The Frost King
by Kineil D. Wicks
Summary: The village of Frostmore, bound in ice and snow, is all Yugi and his friend Willow has ever known. But all attempts to leave have met with failure—because if the cold doesn't get you, the predators will. And everyone knows that the way out is guarded by the monstrous Frost King….
1. Frostmore

**Hello, and welcome to this chilly _Yu-Gi-Oh!/Don't Starve_ crossover. We hope you dress warmly and enjoy your stay. :)**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Yugi listened to the wind howl.

He sat in the communal hall, with the other families of Frostmore, weathering yet another dreary storm. He rocked back and blew into the air; a trail of smoke went, regardless of the burning fire in the huge fireplace. It wasn't Yugi's turn in the sphere of warmth; he had to wait to cycle in and get away from the cold stone walls and snow-choked small windows. Meantime, he snuggled tight in his coat and scarf, pulled his googly-eyed hat down tight with his mittened hands, squished between his mom and grandfather beneath three blankets. He could hear Pegasus complain to his wife about his paints freezing.

Yugi eyed Ushio, the nearer of the guards walking around, and debated walking up and asking him about being bumped up the queue. He doubted it—he had asked Ushio before, and he had been turned down. It didn't matter that it was just him and his mom and his sickly grandfather—they had to wait their turn. He watched Ushio nudge Joey, who started an argument. He could hear it from where he sat: no, he wasn't going to move—his sister needed to stay by the heat. Ushio said something to him and walked off. Joey said something to his sister and headed for the door.

Yugi knew what that meant: wood duty.

He looked up to see Ushio looking down at him.

"Yugi, wood duty," Ushio said briefly.

The good news was, this meant his family was bumped up on the list. The bad news was, Yugi had to go out in the bitter cold and get more wood. But the sooner he left, the sooner he'd get back. He crawled out from the blankets and ran over to where Joey was.

Ushio went out with them, to make sure nothing happened. After they got over the bracing cold, he walked a few paces behind Joey and Yugi, shotgun tucked under his arm.

They rounded a corner and stopped. Joey swore under his breath, chattering teeth making him unintelligible.

No wood.

Ushio spotted this, handed them a couple of hatchets. "You know the drill: go chop down another tree."

They were ready to head to the old spot when Ushio stopped them. "Not there; we've got all the trees there."

They looked in the other direction. They were surrounded by mountains, but the one in particular was frightening and looming, for one specific reason: it was the home of the Frost King.

"I'm not going that way," Joey said bluntly.

"Don't be stupid," Ushio said. "I'm going to do a perimeter check. Don't go too far in."

"You don't have to worry about that," Joey muttered as Ushio marched off. He and Yugi trudged up the mountainside.

As they went, Yugi couldn't help but think of everything he had heard of the Frost King. A monster with spider legs and a bulky, furry body; sharp teeth and antlers; that ran like a deer and struck like a bear; whose breath froze people in their tracks. Yugi didn't want to run into this thing.

"What if we run into the Frost King?" Yugi asked, fear making him quiet.

"Now _you're_ being stupid," Joey snapped, although Yugi could tell he was nervous too.

They stopped by a tallish pine. "This one looks about right; it's all piney," Joey said, unshouldering his bow and quiver. "Keep an eye out, will you?"

Yugi did so, hoping he meant for Ushio, or worse, ice wolves. Or maybe for a deer—that would be good for a day or two.

The snowy landscape was quiet, the absence of sound deafening him. Yugi jumped as Joey began hacking away at the tree. Yugi scolded himself for being so jumpy and focused on keeping an eye out for…whatever.

Snow fell thickly. Yugi marveled at the thick, deep sound it made as snow settled on itself. How could something so soft sound so heavy?

Crunch.

Footsteps?

Yugi glanced around quickly. Joey was still absorbed in chopping, more snow falling, shaken from the tree. Yugi didn't see Ushio—a perimeter check shouldn't take that long, right?

The footsteps were too quick for Ushio, anyway. Yugi recognized the pacing.

"Joey. _Joey,_" Yugi hissed, tapping Joey on the back. Joey paused in his work and looked at him. "I think I hear a deer."

The effect was instantaneous. Joey dropped the hatchet and snatched up his bow and arrow. He wasn't the best shot in the world, but he wasn't the worst—they had a fair shot.

They glanced around, Yugi fretfully, Joey behind his arrow. The footsteps were getting louder.

"This thing is starting to scare me," Joey muttered. Yugi could understand. The footsteps sounded like they were coming from all over, and the snow was masking all movement. The deer could bound right in front of them and they'd never—

Yugi spotted it.

It wasn't a deer.

He had only seen it for a second, but in that second, he could see that the movement, the body structure, the color, was _wrong,_ all wrong for a deer. It was barrel-chested and lanky-legged, pacing appropriate for a mix of wolf-deer-rabbit, frosty blue….

The Frost King. He was here.

"Joey," Yugi hissed.

"What, Yug'?"

"I think," Yugi breathed. "I think I saw the Frost King."

"You're being silly," Joey hissed, but his grip tightened; he was looking forward to a shot at the beast threatening them, but he also knew the likelihood of success if he did. His life expectancy would become extremely short.

More crunching. "There," Yugi pointed. Joey aimed accordingly.

Dark, lumbering….This wasn't the Frost King. "Wait a minute, Joey."

"You're kidding me."

"I don't think that's—Ushio!"

He had never been so glad to see the guard in his life. "What do you mooks think you're doing?" Ushio growled, spotting the arrow aimed at his chest. "You're supposed to be chopping wood!"

"I saw the Frost King," Yugi blurted.

To his credit, Ushio didn't immediately scoff at the notion. Instead, he was all business, readying his gun and quietly issuing orders.

"Pick up that hatchet Yugi. Joey, keep that bow drawn."

They did so. "What about the tree?" Yugi asked.

"Forget it."

They did so. Quickly, they headed back for town. Once there, Ushio led the way to one of the houses.

Yugi paused. "That's the Johansens' house."

"It is," Ushio said, grabbing a chair and dashing it against the wall. "They haven't shown up for days—general consensus is they made a break for the Pass."

The Pass was supposedly the only way down from the mountains. No one who had tried it had ever returned. "Maybe they made it," Yugi said quietly, disbelieving it even as he said it.

Ushio said nothing about it. "Pick those pieces up—we can burn them for now."

"What about later?" Joey asked.

"We can hope the Frost King finds something else to entertain himself."


	2. The Frost King

**Chapter 2, and we see the Frost King. Who is he? We shall soon find out….**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Bound bound bound—through the snow-deadened forest. Trees whipped by in blurs. Snow fell deafeningly. The world was crisp and sharp, and he was hypersensitive to it all.

He sensed a hill up ahead, poured on the speed, and made a great leap at the crest, rolling into the bottom with glee. It was good to be him.

He looked up to see a rabbit staring at him, frozen with shock. He greeted it, baring his teeth in a smile.

Instantly the rabbit was down its hole. He shrugged and continued on, dashing through the snow. _Dashing through the snow_. It felt as though a song was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't name it or place it. He disregarded it and barked out a laugh instead, head held high as he ran.

He paused by a rocky outcropping near the mountain face. Snow was beginning to fall more thickly now. It had almost filled in the footprints—

Footprints?

He examined them closely. Not wolf not deer not bear not—these belonged to those strange beings in the wood-and-rock piles. Opinions were varied and strange on the beings, but he himself had a pleasant opinion of them. They were fascinating. They were interesting.

And they were heading for the Pass.

He followed the prints at a leisurely pace. These beings couldn't move through the snow like he could. He would overtake them soon enough.

And indeed he did, finding them lying in the snow. He looked, poked, prodded…sat back on his haunches. Dead, cold, unmoving.

Three, lying in the snow, facing the Pass. He glanced in the direction they were heading. Nothing but deep, foggy snow, impossible to navigate for anything but him. But it had never held any interest for him. What was out there, that these beings kept killing themselves to try to find?

Small heartbeat. Faint. He looked to the one in the center, smaller than the others. Still alive. Barely.

He gently scooped it up, turned it on its back. Fluttering heart. He closed his eyes and put his head to its chest. He thought of something that it could be, that could let it live….

When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer holding one of the beings. Instead, he had turned it into something that could handle the cold.

Its eyes fluttered open, looked at him. A small fluffy owlet, barely able to fit in one palm.

He smiled at it gently. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," it squeaked breathily.

He clutched it to his chest, as gently as he could. He knew where to take it so it could be taken care of.

He bounded away on two legs, ignoring the cold dead laying in the snow.

He'd come for them later.

* * *

><p>The owls were nestled in their hollow, deep asleep, somehow able to tell even in snow-fog that it was day. He felt guilty for waking them, but he knew they'd appreciate what he'd brought them. They had tried to have chicks before, but a cold snap had taken the eggs.<p>

Somehow, he felt guilty for that as well.

The owls blinked open at his insistence. The male reacted first. "Yami!"

Yami—for that was his name—bared his teeth in a grin. They didn't look nor sound angry or cross with him—rather, they sounded genuinely pleased to see him. "Boreal! Cirrus! How're you doing?"

"Sleepy," Cirrus—the female—responded. She yawned and fluffed her snowy feathers. "You can't wait until dusk, can you?"

"I have something for you."

Boreal perked at this. "Oh, I hope it's a vole."

"No, better."

"Rabbit."

Yami lifted up his hand and unfurled his long fingers. Cirrus reacted first, a happy coo undulating from her.

"It's so, so….Come here, little one," she stammered, letting Yami deposit it into their nest. She snuggled the owlet into a bundle of down and preened it as Yami explained what happened to Boreal. When he finished, Boreal shook his head sagely.

"I swear, those…_Others_," he said, settling on the owl term for the beings. "Have no sense in their heads. If I had no feathers-no fur, I wouldn't go _near_ any cold. Foolish creatures." He turned to look at the owlet, now tucked in with Cirrus. "Will he remember…?"

"I don't think so," Yami said. "Maybe."

Boreal shook his head again, fixed Yami with his yellow eyes. "Thank you," he said. "We won't forget this, honest we won't."

Yami shrugged, made a few non-committal movements—he didn't want them to think they were in debt to him. But when he left, he couldn't help but feel all glowy inside from helping them.

Later, he returned to the cold dead. He took the packs and took the clothes, and anything else of theirs that wasn't attached—they weren't going to use them anymore, and no one else he knew had any use for them. He took them back home, then stopped by Svaren's cave.

Svaren was curled up in a nice warm pocket, feigning sleep. Yami knew better. "Svaren!" he called.

"Hibernating. Go avay."

"What if you didn't hibernate on an empty stomach?"

"Not interested if smaller than vwolf."

"Okay, but my next stop is the wolves. _They'll_ be interested, I'm sure."

Svaren lifted his head. "Interested in vwat?"

Svaren had that peculiar way of saying W-words. Yami often found himself imitating that after speaking to him. "Slightly-frozen meat, already peeled."

Svaren knew what that meant. "Stupid two-legs," he grumbled, standing. The white bear lumbered out. "Not know not go out in cold."

"_You're_ out in the cold."

"Have good reason." Svaren examined him with sleepy bear eyes. "You stupid too. Run round all the time then eat rabbit-food."

"I eat meat sometimes." Although he preferred it as anything but raw, for some reason.

"You don't eat enough. That vwy so thin."

Yami huffed, but Svaren was already heading down the mountain to the Pass. "Svaren?" he called.

"Da?"

"What am I?"

Svaren turned to look at him. "Vwat?"

"I don't think I'm a bear or deer or wolf or owl."

Svaren gave it some thought, then continued down the mountain. "You are Yamir," he said, using his peculiar way of saying Yami's name. "You stupid but smart. Is why you're only one of kind here."

Yami gave it some thought. Looked up at the gunmetal gray sky.

Suddenly, he didn't want to be alone.


	3. Wolves

**And now for Chapter 3….I recommend reading _The Age of Fire_ series by E.E. Knight, by the way—the wolves in _Dragon Champion_ are what I base the wolves here on.**

**WhiteNaomi, Thanks for the review and the follow! I hope I can continue to entertain. :)**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Silver-Fang and Moon-Back were surveying some pups rolling around in the snow, trying to get them into the den when Yami swung by. They looked up with delight.

"Yami-friend!" Silver-Fang greeted—wolves always greeted those they liked with that term (family was "kin" enemy was "foe"). The pups charged Yami, and he had a good few moments dashing around them till they were dizzy.

"Yami-friend come in?" Moon-Back inquired. "We-pack caught deer today—sleep soundly tonight."

Yami gave it some thought. "I wouldn't mind coming in."

"You talk funny, Yami-friend," Silver-Fang observed. "You must have been talking to Svaren-bear again."

Said so because Svaren was neither friend nor foe. "I have." Yami gave some thought before speaking again. "What would you say I am?"

They were in the den now—the whole pack gave this some thought. "You are Yami-friend-almost-kin," Tree-Bark announced from the back. The rest readily agreed.

This wasn't really an answer as far as Yami was concerned. He was beginning to think he was as peculiar as the beings in the valley.

One of the pups was digging greedily into the remains of the deer. "Don't stuff yourself!" Swift-Foot scolded. "You'll get fat and lazy."

"I'll get swift from eating deer!" the pup countered.

"You get swift from much running," Swift-Foot countered. "You eat nothing but deer and you'll sprout antlers like Yami-friend."

The nearby pups all looked at Yami. "Is this true, Yami-friend?"

Yami gave this some thought; he could see the jest in Swift-Foot's face. "No," he said finally. "There's a very strange beast far in the deep-mountains called a 'Yamir'," said thinking of Svaren. "You can't reach it unless you can run fast and far without rest, many moons from here. If you eat _that_, _then_ you'd look like me."

The pups all _ooo_ed accordingly.

"See Yami-friend?" Silver-Fang asked. "You answered your own question!"

Moon-Back nipped Silver-Fang as the pups swarmed Yami, each claiming that _they'd_ be the one to track down this fearsome Yamir and become the strongest. Yami squirmed away from them and pounced around as well as the den would allow.

"That's enough, pups!" Sharp-Tooth, one of the older dams, barked. "You don't want to work up our guest Yami-friend."

The pups made disappointed noises, but Yami realized that his antics had made the temperature drop in the den. He had never been bothered by cold, had never really _felt_ it, but in that moment he realized he could make his wolf-friends freeze to death in their sleep. "I should go anyway," he said, making his goodbyes and ducking out of the den.

Outside, he looked up again. The storm was beginning to clear.

"Yami-friend." Yami turned to see Moon-Back sitting at the entrance. Yami waited politely. "You made that up for the pups, didn't you?"

"How did you know?"

"Because 'Yamir' is what Svaren-bear calls you." Moon-Back padded over to him. "What's wrong? Worry-smell clings to you."

Yami looked up at the sky again. "I don't know what I am."

Moon-Back gave him a gentle lick. "You are Yami-friend-almost-kin, only so because you aren't wolf."

Yami sighed. That wasn't the answer he was looking for.

"You still worry," Moon-Back observed.

"Not-quite-worry," Yami corrected.

Moon-Back considered. "Stay," she requested. "You would not chill the den if you didn't move too much."

"No, I've got to go."

And he did.

"Good-hunt, Yami-friend, whatever it is."


	4. Exploring

**Chapter 4, and a bit more Frost King….**

**WhiteNaomi, thanks for the review! Yes, they are quite cute—would that make it a fluff chapter?...**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Yami didn't want to go back home just yet. Home was past Svaren's cave, and he didn't think Svaren was finished yet.

So instead, he went down to the wood-and-rock piles, to see if he could peek in on the beings.

He needn't have bothered. They were all in the main pile, he could tell by the smoke coming out of the top. The rest were abandoned now—fair picking.

He poked around until he found one with a door that pushed in without difficulty. He went in, bent nearly double to fit indoors, and looked around.

He found a few odds and ends that interested him. He picked them up and continued, looking for one of those things that the beings stored food in. He found one, figured out how to open it. Nothing. Mildly disappointed, he finished his search and moved on to the next house.

He couldn't help it—it was a compulsion. He was always ravenously curious—that was his nature. He couldn't help but pick up every knickknack that caught his fancy, even though they did nothing but collect frost back home. When he saw it, he wanted it, wanted to learn about it.

Unfortunately, everyone he knew had conflicting information on the beings. Svaren said they were stupid. The owls had a similar opinion, but then again, they were mildly disdainful of anyone without wings (Yami was exempt, with his frost-webbed wings). The wolves had a neutral opinion of the beings, saying they were two-leg-wolf-things that had enough sense to hunt and den together. The deer had a negative view of them, saying they were evil things that could kill by looking. The snow-birds said they ate like deer, berries and roots and nuts. Yami had never been able to get an opinion out of the rabbits—but then again, he never had conversations with rabbits. The foxes had no opinion that Yami trusted.

His ears perked. Footsteps crunching.

"The tracks lead this way."

"It's in the Van Burgs' house."

Stupid. He was light on his feet in the snow but not that light. A sharp eye could track his progress. And here he was, stuck in one of the piles with no way out—

Wait. There was a thing where they burned wood. And if they burned wood, there must be a way for the smoke to get out.

He stuck his head in, extending his senses to see if he could fit. He could, barely. He tested a few ways before he settled on the best way to squish through. He scrambled up, frost forming wherever he touched. He couldn't tarry—the frost would build and trap him. He popped out the top and looked around quickly.

"There!"

He bounded in the other direction as a horrible resounding _crack_ sounded—that killer look the deer described. He didn't linger.

Soon, he was deep in the forest, far from where the beings dared go at night. But now they would be on guard for a while.

He gritted his teeth in frustration and headed home. No need to hurry. No one was waiting for him.

Somehow, that made him feel worse.


	5. Yugi and the Deer

**Welcome to Chapter 5 of _The Frost King_—and there's Yugi again! Wonderful. And the first hint of some _Don't Starve_ characters—it _is_ a crossover, after all.**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Yugi woke up in a mass of bundled bodies.

Cycling had been foregone last night after the Frost King had been sighted within town. The fire had been built up as hot as they could stand, and everyone tucked up as close as they could. No one touched the walls for fear of the Frost King's cold bite.

Yugi sat up—properly warm for once, until he hit the cold air above the bodies—and looked out one of the narrow windows. It was blindingly bright—the storm had blown itself out. Time for as much gathering as everyone could stand.

That was the guards' opinions as well. Soon everyone was up, drinking stimulating cups of coffee, and then bundled outside to gather as much as possible.

Yugi was on berry duty. He could handle that. Sort of. After all, it didn't take much to track down Willow, who was on tree-shaving duty and hated it, and convince her to swap jobs. Had her ward Wilson been around, things would have been different, but Wilson was busy with Joey and Tristan, focused on a major breakthrough with his contraption.

Yugi stripped a tree of all its low-lying branches as he thought. A boiler, Wilson had called it, which would melt snow and use the steam to heat the entire communal hall, walls and all. It was a nice dream, he supposed.

Speaking of dreams….

Yugi looked to the Pass. He wondered if the Johansens had made it. Beyond the pass, where warm weather prevailed. He doubted it.

He thought of the stories his grandfather told him, of how the original inhabitants of Frostmore were explorers from a hot country, how they had settled in the valley and subsequently been snowed in, never to leave. Yugi had asked why they had stayed. He had gotten some noncommittal answer about waiting for their king.

That was silly. The only king in these parts was the Frost King. They _certainly_ weren't waiting for _him_.

He had once asked about, wondering if anyone really knew anything about the Frost King. He had finally gotten an answer; Pegasus' sickly wife, Cecilia, had sat him down and told him a story of the Frost King.

"Long ago," she had began. Those were always the best beginnings to a story. No one ever started a story with _last year_.

Long ago, snow and frost and the best of all the snow-bound animals had given their powers to form one being that would protect the mountains. The being awoke under a starry night with the aurora borealis shining above. And that was how the Frost King was born.

Ushio had promptly ruined it by saying that it apparently didn't consider humans amongst the snow-bound. Others filled in the sharp claws, frost-webbed wings, pointy antlers that put deer to shame, razor-teeth, and the strange blue flame that burned in its eyes and erupted from a point on its forehead. Not to mention the fact that it stood taller than a white bear.

Yugi retreated back to the hall, deposited his load, and rushed back out for more before someone realized he brought in the wrong thing.

He wandered and wondered for a while, stripping trees as he went. He spotted one with a full set of branches and aimed for it.

As he rounded it, he saw a deer.

He froze. It froze.

In that moment, he felt guilty for eating deer. It was beautiful, a silky silver color with a full rack curving up, two full branches on a living being. Its dark eyes considered Yugi with fear and uncertainty; what was he going to do?

Yugi breathed out slowly. The practical aspect of him said that that was a good few days worth of food in front of him.

In practice, he slowly backed away and crouched, making himself smaller. The deer, finally convinced, slowly trotted away.

Yugi smiled, glad he had seen that.

He continued on his way, unaware that the forest creatures were watching. Now, they were considering.

* * *

><p>"I saw a deer today," he told his folks that night.<p>

"That's nice," his mom said, ruffling his hair through his hat.

"It was beautiful."

"They are."

"I wish we didn't eat them."

"You can't live on berries alone."

"Rabbits do."

"Rabbits are much smaller than you."

Yugi looked balefully at the deer cooking in the fire. He couldn't help but wonder if it was the same deer he had seen.

"You don't have to eat it if you don't want to."

"Boy has to eat," his grandfather said gruffly.

Yugi sighed. He decided to switch tactics.

"What did you eat in the warm country, grandpa?"

Now it was his mother's turn to sigh; his grandfather cut into the new topic with gusto, describing so many mouthwatering foods Yugi was convinced they didn't exist.

Later, Yugi slept snug between his mom and grandfather, warm bellyful of food keeping the cold at bay. He dreamt of strange snow beasts, antlers like the deer's curling above a blue flame.


	6. Lost

**Chapter 6, and events will be event-ing now. In addition: Wilson alert with a side of _A Bug's Life _reference thrown in. :)**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Another clear day.

This time, Willow was the one who tracked him down for the job swap. Yugi didn't argue—he hated food-gathering.

Unfortunately, he had to go farther out today—anyone able-bodied was out getting wood or food, and anything nearby had already been stripped and prepped for chopping. So, it followed that he had to go off to the woods close to the Frost King's mountain.

He stared at the mountain. He didn't want to go that way. Not after the other day. But if they caught him loitering around, he'd be in trouble. So, with no small amount of hesitation, he headed further in.

He became more comfortable as time went on with no sightings. He went through the forest, stripping trees as he went, until—

"Yaah!"

"Waugh!"

Yugi stumbled back. He had inadvertently run into Wilson, out doing…who knew what at this point. He looked like he was digging up rocks. Behind him, Willow stood with a basket of sticks, laughing at them both.

"What are you doing out this far?" Wilson demanded, recovering first.

"I could ask you the same question," Yugi retorted. "Why are you collecting rocks?"

"It's for the boiler," Wilson announced, affecting that self-impressive stance he got when he talked about anything science-y. "I can refine them down to stone blocks and go from there."

Yugi and Willow exchanged a silent conversation with grimaces and eye-rolls. Wilson glowered when he noticed.

"Fine. Be that way. I notice you didn't answer my question."

"Tree-stripping."

Wilson waved at the mountain. "You're hanging around too close to the mountain. The Frost King will come after you."

"What does he look like?" Willow asked. "So we know when we see him."

Yugi mouthed a silent thank-you as Wilson turned his attention to this new subject.

"Big and hairy, with huge antlers and one glowing eye in its head," Wilson said, curling his fingers as he described. "Long lanky limbs that end in fur and claws, unimpeded by snow. We shouldn't be here," Wilson said suddenly, looking about.

"What's the matter, Wilson?" Willow asked. "Did you scare yourself?"

But Yugi had felt it too. A sudden drop in temperature. Common consensus was that it was the Frost King coming. Practice showed that it was a storm instead.

Wilson pulled out a miniature rainometer (which he said predicted potential precipitation) and examined it. "We have maybe an hour," he announced, putting it back into his pocket. "We'd better get back."

"I'm going to fill my basket before I do," Yugi said.

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I won't take that long."

"Then we're going with you."

"No," Yugi said slowly. "You're heading back now. You're carrying _rocks_. You'll sink in the snow."

Wilson was obviously torn; he didn't like the idea of leaving Yugi by himself.

Yugi glanced at Willow and gave her a look. She translated it and acted accordingly.

"C'mon, Wilson," Willow said, tugging on Wilson's arm. "Yugi can take care of himself."

Yugi nodded. "See? Willow knows what she's talking about."

Wilson still had that look on his face, but it was swaying over to acceptance. Yugi decided to take advantage of this.

"I'll be back in twenty minutes, tops," he said, getting ready to sprint off.

"Hold on before you do," Wilson said, digging into his pocket again. "Here, take this."

Yugi accepted Wilson's offering, weighing the round object in his hand. "Thank you….It's a rock."

"No, it's the latest in a series of scientific breakthroughs," Wilson corrected.

Yugi exchanged glances with Willow again. She shrugged. "So…it's a round rock."

"It's a heat stone," Wilson corrected. "It helps to keep one toasty."

Yugi examined it again. "It's kind of warm and cuddly," Yugi admitted. "For a rock."

"_I know it's a rock!"_ Wilson exploded. "Don't you think I know a rock when I see a rock? I spend a lot of time around _rocks!_"

Yugi and Willow had a good laugh at his expense. "Come on, Wilson," Willow said, tugging on his arm again.

Wilson finally relented. Yugi waved goodbye and headed in the other direction. Amid see-you-laters came a common warning:

"Beware the Frozen Hart!"

Yugi pictured the Frost King's antlers, as described by everyone.

Beware indeed.

Yugi continued stripping trees, on a roll now. Wilson was right—the rock (_heat stone_, he corrected himself)—was keeping him pretty toasty. He hummed everyone's warning tune as he worked, oblivious to everything around him.

Which was why he was startled by a snowflake falling right in front of him.

Yugi glanced around in a panic. Snow was starting to fall thickly now; the storm had come.

He ran for home, but realized that he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going. He couldn't backtrack, for the snow was filling in his footprints. He was lost.

Yugi was in a full-blown panic now. He couldn't stop. He had to keep running. If he stopped, he gave up, and if he gave up, he was dead.

He tripped over a hidden branch and went tumbling down a steep hill. He came to a halt at the bottom, facedown.

He didn't move.

* * *

><p>A cardinal flitted by, red feathers a flash of flame in the cold.<p>

A few moments later, it returned, hopping to the inert form in the snow.

The cardinal examined the figure steadily disappearing in the snow. He recognized it as that boy, the one who had been enraptured by the deer, but hadn't killed it.

The cardinal—by dint of being a cardinal—gave it more thought than a bird of another kind would give. He came to a decision, lofted into the air, circled the boy once, then flew off in search of the one who could repair this.

The Frost King.


	7. The Other

**Chapter 7, ladies and gents! We hope you're enjoying your stay and staying nice and toasty while doing so, and we hope you're having a wonderful winter thus far. :)**

**"Churring" is a term to describe owl laughter, by the way, and comes from the series _Guardians of Ga'Hoole_ by Kathryn Lasky. Go check it out—it's a good series. :)**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Yami was checking in on Boreal and Cirrus when the cardinal found him.

"Cardinal-friend!" they greeted, the standard greeting used.

"Friends," the cardinal said, landing on a branch. He turned to Yami.

"There is a being in the snow—one of the Others."

Yami blinked. "Did another one run for the Pass?"

The cardinal shook his head. "No. I think he got lost in the storm and fell down a hill."

Yami tilted his head. "You should do something," the cardinal pressed.

"Like what?" Yami asked, one of those long claw-fingers up to his mouth, concerned.

The cardinal shrugged and looked to the owls for help. Boreal looked at Cirrus, who had an owlet tucked beneath her wing.

"Take it home and feed it?" Cirrus suggested.

"What do Others eat?" Boreal asked.

"Rabbits, deer and berries," the cardinal said promptly.

"Better head out and catch some then."

A little _churr_ing came from the owlet. "Humans eat soup, silly."

They all turned to the owlet; the cardinal wondered how such a little owlet would know such a thing.

"What else?" Yami prompted.

"They keep warm with a fire," the owlet said, thinking. "And…blankets? They don't eat raw meat, that's for sure."

They exchanged glances; the cardinal noted that the glance between Yami and the owls held more meaning—what was going on?

"What kind of berries?"

"Red ones."

"I know the ones," the cardinal offered.

"I can get the rabbits," Boreal offered.

"All right," Yami said, then to the owlet, "thanks."

He turned to the older birds.

"Cardinal-friend, I need you to show me the Other."

* * *

><p>Yami followed the cardinal, keeping an eye on his fiery red plumage.<p>

As he followed, he pondered.

What could have possessed one of those beings to run about in a snowstorm? Normally they retreated into their stone-and-wood piles. And why had the cardinal gone to him instead of the wolves or Sven?

He posed the question.

The cardinal fluttered, as though considering stopping, then pressed on.

"This one is not like the others," the cardinal said simply.

Yami tilted his head at this. What did that mean?

He continued on. He would find out when he got there.


	8. The Lair of the Frost King

**Chapter 8, ladies and gents~ We're making progress….**

**Whenever reactions to freezing cold crop up, it's pretty certain that I'm referencing Jack London, who wrote many stories about the Yukon and the effects such bitter cold has. Which also means that in retrospect, everyone should be wrapped up so tight we can't see them….Ah, artistic liberties….**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

The cardinal finally came to a halt near a pile of snow.

Yami could sense the heartbeat coming from the pile. He brushed the snow away with his long fingers to find—yes, indeed, one of the Others, somewhere between the three from the other day in size. He cradled the being in his arms and dashed for the first place he could think of that was out of the storm.

Home.

It was easy to get to, for him, and ironically was very near that Pass that these beings kept trying to get through. It was chock-full of the assorted junk he had collected from the beings over the years, so it wasn't hard to bundle up the little being in a load of blankets and collect together the things needed for making soup.

It was a bit harder getting the wood for it all, but he was able to guilt Lief into giving him some.

He had just figured out how to work the flint, and was about to light the wood, when his actions gave him pause.

He had never been near fire before, and had no idea what the effect would be on him. Would he melt? Would he catch fire? Sicken? Die?

He looked at the being again. Pictured it sickening and dying from _lack_ of heat.

He started the fire.

He dashed outside when he heard Boreal's deep hooting, found that the cardinal had brought a bunch of berries and nuts, found that Boreal had enlisted an unwilling Svaren's help in skinning the rabbit (since that was what the owlet said and the owlet needed his first fur ceremony anyway).

The soup was shortly started, and—after everyone else went home—all Yami could do was settle down away from the fire and wait for the being to wake up.

He settled down amongst his odds and ends, out of the direct line of sight, so as to not startle the being when it woke up. He wasn't sure what to expect. Would it be like him? Like the wolves? Like the bears? Like the deer's opinion of the beings? Like what?

Time wore on, and the being still didn't wake up (although its heartbeat was getting stronger). Yami, despite his excitement, eventually grew drowsy (from the fire, perhaps?), and dozed off.

He wondered when it would wake up.

* * *

><p>Yugi slowly swam back to consciousness, warm and drowsy. He really didn't want to wake up, and hoped it was snowing outside, so he wouldn't be made to collect wood again. He liked being warm. He liked being tucked in and dozing. He curled up tighter, willing himself to go back to sleep.<p>

Some small corner of his mind told him that people freezing to death often felt the same way.

Yugi sat up with a start.

And glanced around, concerned.

He wasn't outside, steadily freezing to death, that was sure. He wasn't home, either. This was….

It looked like a cave made of ice, with a tunnel off to his left. A fire burned merrily in front of him, illuminating the cave and making it glisten. The place was chock-full of stuff, from blankets to forks to pans to—even a couple of sleds!

One of them looked very much like the Johansens' sled. That made Yugi worry.

He stood up, shedding the tangle of blankets, looking around. He didn't think he wanted to meet whatever or whoever lived in this cave. He headed for that tunnel, pausing briefly by the pot simmering on the little fire. It smelled like rabbit stew, and was very tempting….

He headed for the tunnel.

It turned a bend into a smaller, darker cave…and stopped completely.

Yugi glanced about this smaller cave. It looked like a den for something….There was a pile of blankets and clothes in the middle, with an indentation where something slept. Shelves were carved into the ice, where various knickknacks were stored.

Yugi looked closer at the shelves. They looked scratched out. The stuff that filled them was toys and other brightly colored items, things that would attract someone's attention easily.

And everything was covered with frost.

Yugi felt a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach. A cave of ice with no way out, frost coating everything….He was in the lair of the Frost King.

It was in this moment of realization that he heard a soft noise behind him. He spun around to see the entrance to the other cave blocked by something tall and furry.


	9. Face-to-Face

**Chapter 9, ladies and gents! Sorry for the fake-out, if you were fast enough to catch it—my document renumbered itself on me (it pays to know your story—that was how I caught it).**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Yami woke up to find the being gone.

He sat up and looked about—it couldn't have gotten far. Yami was the only one who could easily go in and out of the cave. It must just be looking around.

He walked over to his bed area to find that yes, it was up and about, and looking at his things on the shelves. He noted that it walked on its hind legs. Intrigued, he sat back on his haunches and stood up in imitation. He was surprised to find that it came easy to him, although four-legged still served him better, he thought. He cleared his throat, prompting the being to turn.

* * *

><p>Yugi froze.<p>

Not literally—at least, not yet. But this being…it must be the Frost King. There was nothing else it could have been. It was tall, with thin limbs, blue, antlers scraping against the icy ceiling. Frosty blue fur formed a huge ruff about its neck and shoulders, with more fur around its wrists. Long fingers ending in black claws, large feet built for running on snow, swishing tail….

Strangely, the face was fairly human—it was longer than average, and had short fur and fuzz on it, and of course there was that strange third eye spouting blue flame (although from here, it looked carved in), but the face was humanesque. The hair was shades of blue spiked up, with pale yellow bolts of lightning for bangs—hair very similar to Yugi's own.

Yugi decided not to think about that. He had more important things to worry about.

The Frost King was lowering its head, nostrils quivering, icy blue eyes staring, wolflike ears twitching forward—if Yugi didn't know any better, he'd think that it was sizing him up to eat him.

It took a step forward.

Yugi took a step back—

And slipped on a particularly slick spot of ice.

"Augh!" Yugi cried as he fell. "No please don't eat me!"

* * *

><p>Yami's ears perked up.<p>

_Oh, so that's what they talk like,_ he thought. He hadn't been sure about that—as far as he knew, the beings in the valley only had two eyes, not four, so he wasn't sure if this one was some sort of subspecies or something like that.

Whatever it said when it slipped and fell came out as a blurb, but Yami was pretty sure it said something about eating. "There's some soup in that pot over there," Yami said, gesturing with his head.

The way the being was looking at him reminded him of a rabbit. He hoped the conversation wasn't going to be like that.

It occurred to him that he was standing in the way. He stepped to one side, feeling slightly awkward on two legs. The being matched his movements, pressed against the opposite wall. When he was opposite the tunnel, the being bolted down it.

Yami resumed his four-legged gait as he followed it, interested. When he got to the other cave, he found the being at the far end, frantically scrambling through the assorted stuff and apparently searching for something.

It found whatever it was looking for; it pressed its back against the far wall and held out something long and shiny, stiff-armed. Yami went closer, curious as to what it had.

"Don't come near me!" it barked, squeakily. Yami stopped and tilted his head.

"Where am I?" it squeaked. "Why am I here?"

Yami glanced about and gave this some thought, although the answers were pretty straightforward. "You're in my home," he said carefully, feeling that the being needed to be addressed in a certain way at this juncture. "I brought you here. You were freezing to death in the snow."


	10. Questions

**Chapter 10, ladies and gents! I do believe this is the longest chapter for this to date—mostly because normally, when I hit three pages, I start looking for a place to bail.**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Yugi was pretty sure his heart stopped just then.

He had been dying? And the Frost King…had _saved_ him?

He wavered, then lowered the knife he had found.

The Frost King tilted its head, then sat down on its haunches. It tipped its head to the pot simmering on the fire. Yugi got the message and sat down on the blankets by the fire, keeping the knife close, just in case.

The Frost King settled down similar to a dog or wolf as Yugi lifted the lid on the pot. The stew smelled delicious, and had shortly permeated the cave with its aroma. The rabbit in the stew had cooked quite thoroughly.

Yugi glanced around for a spoon or something to eat the stew with, but didn't see anything handy. He picked up the knife and used it to fish out a piece of meat.

He tried very hard not to look at the Frost King, which was watching him very closely. It was making him nervous—he still hadn't shaken the thought that it was going to eat him.

"What are you doing?" it asked abruptly when Yugi blew on the meat.

"Uh," Yugi noised, startled. "I'm blowing on the meat to cool it."

The Frost King seemed extremely interested in this fact. Yugi ate, still worried about the strange being in front of him.

It gave him some peace for a few moments, making the next time it spoke equally as startling.

"What are you?"

Yugi had never had that question asked of him before. "I'm Yugi," he said, unsure of what it wanted. "I'm a human."

Those wolf ears swiveled again. "So what am I?"

Yugi stared openly. What kind of question was that?

Its expression looked sincere, though. "You're the Frost King," Yugi said slowly. "Aren't you?"

It tilted its head, giving Yugi's statement some thought. Suddenly, it dipped its head. "Yeah, I like that!" it said excitedly.

Yugi blinked. He wasn't expecting that.

The Frost King hopped up and dashed over to a pile of junk. Yugi watched, confused.

It came back, holding something up. "What is this?"

Yugi stared. "That's a hammer," he said finally.

"What does it do?"

"You use it to hit things—like nails—"

"What are nails?"

"They're things that hold wood together," Yugi said, holding up his still-mittened hands. "Listen, how about I ask a question, and then _you_ ask a question, and we'll go from there?"

"Okay," the Frost King said. It reached over and grabbed another thing. "What is this?"

Yugi looked. "That's a rubber duck. People bathe with it in the tub."

"Why?"

Yugi didn't know. "To test for sharks. Weren't we going to alternate questions?"

"Oh yeah. You get another one."

Well, at least it was keeping track. "Who are you?"

"You already said—I'm a Frost King." It reached over and grabbed another thing. "What is this?"

"That's a tent stake. What I mean is, what's your name? Like mine's Yugi…."

"Oh. My name is Yami," the Frost King said, reaching over and grabbing something else. "What is this?"

"That's a spoon," Yugi said, reaching for it. "I'll show you what it's for."

The Frost King—Yami—let Yugi take the spoon. He used it to take a mouthful of soup. "Okay," Yugi said, once the soup was warming his innards. "Where are we?"

"I told you, you're in my home." Yami pulled a tin from one of the packs. "What is this?"

Yugi accepted it. "It's spice. It's for flavoring food." He deposited a pinch in the pot and closed the tin. "So where's the door?"

"Door?"

"How you get in and out."

"Oh. Like this," Yami said.

And with that, he bounded through the wall of ice to Yugi's right.

Yugi gaped, completely stunned. He had gone straight through a solid wall of ice! How!?

Yami came back in, stepping through the ice like it wasn't there. "_How?"_ Yugi squawked. "How did you _do_ that?"

The Frost King shrugged. "I don't know; I've never given it much thought before." He glanced around, then plucked up another thing. "What is this?"

"That's Willow's teddy bear!" Yugi exclaimed, hopping up and taking it. "I remember when she lost this."

Indeed, Willow had been heartbroken over losing the bear. Wilson had tried to make her a new one, but to no avail. Yugi had finally helped to cheer her up by loaning her his googly-eyed hat for a while. She had given it back when she saw how cold he was without it.

The Frost King shrugged once more, then picked up something else. "What is this?"

"That's a cup," Yugi said, taking it. "It's for scooping up soup, like this." He demonstrated. "Wasn't I supposed to ask a question then?"

"You had asked two in a row," Yami argued, then plucked something else up. "What is this?"

"That's Wilson's top hat," Yugi said, remembering when it had blown away. "So you're focused on literal questions as part of the I-ask-you-ask thing?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Then that counts as a question."

"And you just answered it. Next question."

Yugi rubbed his face. Oi vey….He obviously was going to have to consider his questions very carefully. "Okay," he said finally. "Where did you come from?"

"From the top of a mountain," Yami replied promptly, selecting something else. "What is this?"

"It's a scarf. It's for keeping the neck and head warm. Which mountain?"

Yami gave a vague gesture, as though trying to indicate direction. "A very tall one over that way." He picked something else up. "What is this?"

"They're mittens—they keep your hands warm, see?"

Yugi held his hands out to provide an example.

Yami looked at them, surprise clearly etched on his face. "You mean those _aren't_ your real hands?"

"No." Yugi pulled off one of his mittens and showed Yami his bare hand. It was pale like the rest of him, suffering from a lack of steady light. Yami looked closely at them; Yugi could feel the cold radiating off of him. He surreptitiously slipped his mitten back on as Yami looked at his own clawed hand.

"So it's my question now, right?" Yugi asked.

"Yeah, it was," Yami replied, picking up another thing. "What is this?"

Yugi slapped himself in the forehead. Idiot. He took the question literally.

Yami jerked his head back. "What was that for?"

Hey! That gave Yugi two questions in a row! "Well, what you're holding is a boot," Yugi said, pointing. "They're for covering feet. I slapped myself in the forehead because I was…" what was a good word? "Exasperated with myself."

"What's exasperated?"

"It's…like annoyed. I was annoyed with myself. Now I get three questions."

Yami tilted his head, then nodded. "Okay."

Yugi had been expecting more of an argument than that. "All right," Yugi said slowly, trying to select just the right questions to ask. "What is your earliest memory?"

"Waking up on top of a mountain." Full stop.

"Okay," Yugi noised, when it was clear Yami wasn't going to elaborate. "Can you…_are_ you the cause of the cold?"

"Is that one question or two?"

"One. And now you owe me another."

"Okay. I can cause cold," he said, standing up and shaking himself. A miniature blizzard swept through the cave.

"Okay! Enough! Enough!" Yugi cried, fearful the fire would go out. Yami stopped obligingly. "How do you do that?"

Yami shrugged. "I don't know." Full stop.

"Do you know what's beyond the Pass?"

"A lot of snow-fog." Full stop.

Yugi noticed Yami was getting antsy. "Do you want to ask your question now?" he sighed.

Yami nodded brightly and leaped over to one of the sleds. "What is this?"

"That's a sled. It's for travelling over the snow."

Yami tilted his head at that.

"Can I ask one more question?"

"Sure," Yami said, then snatched up something else. "What is this?"

"Snowshoes. They're for travelling over the snow."

"I thought that was what the sled was for."

"It is. Those snap onto the boots."

Yami had a very amazed look on his face. "Yami," Yugi said quietly. Yami looked up. "Are there any others like you?"

Yami grew very quiet at that. Yugi could tell he had asked a question that Yami had asked himself multiple times.

"I don't know," he said finally, zest knocked out of him.

Yugi sat and blew on his cup of soup, then belatedly realized it had frozen. He put it next to the guttering fire to heat up and used the soup spoon instead.

He noticed that Yami had hunkered down and was watching him eat. "What?" he asked finally.

"What does soup taste like?"

Yugi stared at him for a moment, then gave him the partially frozen cup of soup for him to try.

He watched as Yami tried the soup. He seemed to like it. Yugi gave him a few moments before asking his next question.

"Can I go now?"

Yami was busy licking his lips. "No."

Yugi had been afraid of that. "Can I ask why?"

"Sure."

Yugi waited a moment before he realized that Yami had given the literal answer to his question. "Okay, why?"

"There's a big blizzard outside," Yami said simply, thoroughly licking the now-empty cup of soup. "It won't lift until morning. This stuff is really _good_, by the way."

"When the blizzard lifts, then can I go?"

"Sure. Can I have some more of this?"

Yugi took the cup and filled it up again. "How much longer is that?" he asked as he handed the cup back.

"Several hours. I'm beginning to understand why you humans like soup so much."

Yugi sighed and hunkered down in the blankets. "Well, if that's the case, I think I'll rest a little bit." He pulled some blankets over himself and tried to go to sleep.

A cold feeling prompted him to open his eyes again.

Yami was at the edge of the blankets, leaning over him.

"Can I help you?" Yugi asked, trying to slow his heart rate to normal.

"I was hoping to ask you about a few more things…."


	11. Heading Home

**Chapter 11, everybody! I find it ironic that I said I'd post regularly until it warmed up, and then we have an exceptionally warm December.**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

The day was crisp and cold, and the sun was blinding on the snow.

Despite the bracing cold, Yugi was grateful. He hadn't been looking forward to being stuck in that cave any longer than necessary, but getting out had terrified him. Clinging to something freezing that he hardly trusted, then letting it drag him through solid ice…it wasn't an experience he was looking forward to repeating.

Yami, meanwhile, was watching him carefully, as though he were assessing Yugi's reaction. "So which way is home?" Yugi asked.

"That way," Yami replied, indicating towards the forest.

Yugi took a step towards his destination. "Well, thank you for—"

Not much else got out of his mouth—the snow gave way beneath him and he went slip-sliding down the slope.

Yugi sat up, spluttering. Not the best way to start off his trip home.

Yami came down after him, bounding and wallowing in the snow like it was the best thing in the world. Which for the Frost King, Yugi supposed, was accurate.

"Yeah, I uh, meant to do that," Yugi said.

Yami didn't seem too bothered. "I do it all the time."

"You fall down hills?"

"I _jump_ down them. I thought you meant to do that."

Yugi sighed and stood up, readjusting the pack that he had convinced Yami to part with. "Anyway, thanks and all. Bye."

And with that, he set off through the snow.

A light crunching parallel to his own told him that Yami was following him. "Um, not to be rude and all," Yugi said, looking at the Frost King loping along beside him. "But what are you doing?"

"Following you."

"Why?"

"You're interesting and you know a lot."

"Wilson knows more than I do," Yugi muttered, still walking. Then, to Yami, "You know, you can't go with me to Frostmore."

"To what?"

"Frostmore. My village," Yugi clarified. "Everyone would freak out, and they wouldn't let me explain."

Yami tilted his head. "What's that mean?"

"What?"

"Freak out."

"Oh, uh, you know, go crazy." Yami stared at him blankly. "Do you know what rabies is?" Yami nodded. "It's kind of like that."

"Oh," Yami said, visibly concerned.

"So you see, it's probably a good idea if you didn't follow me to Frostmore."

"How come you're not rabid—er, freak-out?"

Yugi realized he could have explained that better. "Um, well, it's not _exactly_ like rabies, and…well, uh….A lot of people tend to shoot first and ask questions later."

"People?"

"Humans."

"Oh. What's shoot first?"

"Use their guns."

"Guns?"

"Kill first and ask questions later."

Yami seemed offended at that. "See?" Yugi asked. "So, thanks for everything, but I'm good."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Yami nodded, that smile back on his face. "All right. You know you're heading the wrong way, right?"

"What?" Yugi asked.

Yami nodded in another direction, slightly perpendicular to Yugi's current direction. "You're supposed to be going _that_ way."

Yugi groaned. "Okay, you can see me to my village, but after that, you have to go, all right?"

"You got it."


	12. Yugi's Return

**Chapter 12, ladies and gentlemen, and the return of our favorite nerd! And I jinxed it—with the exception of maybe Hawaii, the whole United States is in a major cold snap (_waaaay_ jinxed it…).**

**I neglected to mention this before, but when this was being written the Thermal Stone from _Don't Starve_ was still referred to as a Heat Stone (the name changed once _Reign of Giants_ came about and the stone could be used to cool down as well).**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Life in Frostmore had gone on.

Yugi's family was disconsolate. After two days, there was absolutely no way he could have survived. Willow was with them, still inconsolable. Wilson had managed to stop her from setting things on fire (as she was wont to do when she was upset), so she had resigned herself to mourning with his family.

Wilson, meanwhile, was beating himself up over the loss of Yugi. He was his superior. He should have made him come back. He shouldn't have let him go off on his own.

But it was too late to fix that. So, he threw himself into his work. Once the boiler was up and running, they wouldn't lose anyone else like they did Yugi.

Joey and Tristan were markedly subdued. Wilson knew they weren't that close to Yugi, but they had been close enough that his passing bothered them.

Wilson heaved a sigh. He'd give anything to see Yugi come tromping back….

"Hey!"

Everyone turned to look.

Yugi was heading towards them, arms waving in greeting.

_Yugi._

"Yugi!" Joey and Tristan hollered, bolting for him. Wilson stood shocked. No way….

Apparently, Ushio didn't think so either. "Hold it," he barked, leveling his gun at Yugi.

Yugi froze. Joey and Tristan, however, rounded on Ushio. "Hey, you dumb jerk! What gives?" Joey snapped, demonstrating his lack of foresight.

"How do we know that's the _real_ Yugi?" Ushio shot back.

Of course. This could be a wraith to do the Frost King's bidding. Unless….

"Yugi!" Wilson hollered. "What's Willow's middle name?"

"Ember," Yugi said promptly.

"That's him."

"Willow doesn't _have_ a middle name," Ushio argued.

"It's the one she picked," Wilson countered, moving up to Yugi, hands on his hips. "Remind me what the last thing I said to you was," he demanded.

"'Don't stay out too long'?" Yugi guessed.

"_Exactly!_ Do you lack all common scientific sense?"

"The heat stone works."

"For a limited time! Why aren't you frozen to death?"

"I found a cave," Yugi said promptly (too promptly, Wilson thought). "I stayed there and lit a fire until the storm broke, then I found my way home. And I found this."

And Yugi produced Wilson's old top hat.

"My hat!" Wilson exclaimed, snatching it up. "This blew away years ago! Where on earth did you find it?"

"It's a very long story."

"Fine," Ushio growled, finally shouldering his gun. "Since nobody seems concerned about the danger here, I'll just go on my merry way."

"It's okay, Ushio, I was sorta expecting it anyway," Yugi called after him. Ushio gave a dismissive wave as he left.

* * *

><p>That night found Yugi securely wedged between his mother and grandfather, Willow nearby with her newly reclaimed bear. Wilson sat next to her, chin on his chest and snoring slightly. He must have been more stressed than he let on, Yugi mused, to fall asleep instead of stay up and take notes.<p>

As Yugi fell asleep, he wondered what Yami must be up to.

* * *

><p>Despite Yugi's warnings, Yami had snuck into the village that night.<p>

He couldn't help it. He was curious. And with his newfound knowledge, he could finally figure out some of the stuff scattered about the wood-and-stone piles—_houses_, Yugi had called them, although he had said that no one really lived in them anymore.

That had prompted Yami to ask why. Yugi had responded with the fact that it was too cold in Frostmore to stay warm in the individual houses. Yami had asked why they stayed then, if they didn't like the cold.

"Because no one can get through the Pass," Yugi had replied.

Fascinating. Why not, Yami wondered. But then again, if Yugi was anything to go by, humans weren't very sturdy creatures.

Yami ducked behind a snow-covered copse of bushes as two humans with long sticks turned a corner. He watched with interest as they went by, passing where he walked—he had learned his lesson from before, and dusted his tracks away with his tail.

When they left, he stood up and continued on, searching for more things to ask Yugi about the next time he saw him. For example, why did humans carry sticks like that?

He found another food container and poked through it, failing to find anything. He thought longingly of soup. He liked soup. It was tasty. He wondered if he could make it again.

That's what he'd do, he decided, turning towards home. He was pretty sure he could guilt Lief into letting him burn the sticks that fell from the trees. At the very least, he could give some reason or theory as to why the humans chopped down so many trees.

And so, after making a small detour to tackle a hapless rabbit, he headed for home with a notable spring in his step.


	13. Lief

**Chapter 13, ladies and gentlemen! Now we get to meet the bane of lumberjacks! And another long chapter, too—goodness!**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

As Yugi expected, he wasn't left alone for a long time afterwards.

It took several weeks to convince anyone to let him out of the village, and even longer to let him go even a small distance away by himself. His family inquired after him all the time now, and needed to know his exact location at all times. Wilson was practically on top of him at all times, and on the few occasions that Wilson had allowed himself to be preoccupied with the boiler, he set Joey or Tristan on him.

Those two, Yugi was pleasantly surprised to learn, had worried about him while he was lost. Joey in particular had a very good reason: his sister Serenity got upset whenever their number dwindled.

Willow—despite usually agreeing with him—wouldn't leave him alone. She'd follow him around wherever he went, newly-reclaimed teddy bear in hand. Yugi was beginning to appreciate how much time she usually spent under Wilson's feet.

Finally, on a clear day several months later, he was able to sneak off without anyone instantly calling him back or accompanying him.

Yugi breathed a sigh of relief as he shouldered his axe; he hadn't realized how much he had enjoyed his relative anonymity before. Sure, everyone knew everyone in Frostmore, but Yugi for the most part was passed over for his relative weakness. He was tenacious, something that Wilson at least had noticed, but tenacity only got one so far.

Now, however, his tenacity had apparently gotten him through a nasty blizzard. And now he was worth noticing. At the very least, because he could potentially be one of the Frost King's wraiths.

Ushio hadn't ceased to be suspicious of him, although he had relaxed considerably when it was Yugi's turn near the fire and Yugi didn't balk at the flames. Yugi wasn't sure if he wanted to mention that the Frost King didn't seem fazed by fire.

Indeed, Yugi hadn't told anyone of his encounter. Mention of it would certainly solidify all suspicions, and Yugi would be out in the cold faster than they could scream _traitor_. After all, it was the Frost King's fault that they were all in that mess.

At this point, Yugi was seriously beginning to wonder if he had even met the Frost King. His defensive lie was seeming realer every day, and that weird time spent with the weirder Yami seemed more like a strange dream. It didn't help that it had snowed heavily several times after he had gotten back; Yami's voice sounded very much like the deep quiet sound of snow hitting itself, and numerous times Yugi had started awake, certain he heard Yami in the middle of the night.

He sighed and readied his axe, finally finding a pine tree with full boughs on it. He might as well get back to the grind already.

And then the snow drift next to him exploded.

Yugi fell back with a shriek, certain that doom was about to befall him. He fell into another snow pile and floundered in the deeper snow, finally managing to sit up and see—

_"Yami!"_

Any doubts he had flew out of his head as he saw the Frost King himself on all fours in front of him, head down and then up, like an excited wolf. Yugi noted that he now wore the deep blue scarf he had asked Yugi about.

"Finally!" Yami exclaimed, looking Yugi up and down while grinning madly. "I was beginning to wonder if I'd _ever_ see you again! By the way, I have a few more things I have to ask you about—"

Yugi managed to stand as Yami flounced in the snow all around him, still with the motions that made Yugi think he was sizing him up to eat. He was still talking a mile a minute—like he wanted to make up for three month's worth of not seeing him—when Yugi interrupted him.

"Now _hold it_," Yugi said, holding up both hands. "Firstly, you can't be here. You're too close to the village."

"I'm not worried," Yami said breezily. "There's not a thing alive that can catch me in the snow."

"Secondly, I _definitely_ can't be seen with you."

This seemed to bother Yami more. "Why not?"

"I survived a blizzard I shouldn't have," Yugi explained. "And now everyone's walking on eggshells around me—they think I'm some sort of wraith that you summoned up."

Yami tilted his head. "I can do that?"

"_Can_ you?"

"I don't know. What's a wraith?"

"I'll take that as a _no_, then," Yugi muttered. "Besides, people will try to kill you if they see you."

Yami didn't seem concerned. "They'll try to kill _me_ if they see you," Yugi added, which seemed to bother Yami more.

"Well then, they just _won't_ see me, how's that?" he asked, standing up and shaking himself. A small flurry breezed out of his fluffy collar.

Yugi stared. "You know, I always thought Wilson was difficult to talk to. You're worse, it turns out."

"What's a Wilson?"

"Wilson is…" Yugi had to think about that. "A Gentleman Scientist. Now come on—I have to get some wood for the fire, or people really _will_ think I'm conspiring with the Frost King."

"Aren't you?"

"That's not the point," Yugi said, grasping a branch.

"You oughtn't bother Lief when he's sleeping."

_"Who?"_

Yami pointed. "Lief. He's grumpy at the best of times."

Yugi looked, then stared at Yami. "Wait a minute—are we talking about a _tree_?"

"No," Yami said, going over to sit by the tree. "We're talking about _this_ tree. This is Lief."

"And Lief is a tree."

"Yes."

"I think I might have just found what happens to a person who suffers from a brainfreeze."

"Really? What?"

Yugi put his face in his hands and tried very hard not to sound overly irritated. "Okay, Lief is a tree. But my village needs wood for the fire. So would Lief mind too terribly if I took some of his branches?"

"I don't know," Yami said slowly. He looked at the tree. "Lief, would you mind terribly if you were missing some branches?"

To Yugi's surprise, the tree shook itself.

"Lief says yes, he would mind," Yami said, when the boughs subsided.

"Um…." Yugi noised, not sure how to proceed.

"I tried explaining things to Lief the other day," Yami continued, scratching his ear, not noticing Yugi's discomfort. "But he's still not convinced. He has the same opinion that everyone else has regarding you…people."

"Which is?"

"'If you had any brains, you wouldn't be up on the mountain to begin with,'" Yami said. The way he tilted his head when he said this indicated that he had heard this same statement multiple times.

"Tell him we've _tried_ leaving before," Yugi said, exasperated. "But anyone who's tried to get through the Pass has frozen to death first. _You_ know that."

"_I_ do. And he says he speaks English," Yami said, indicating the tree, which had shaken again.

"I'm not used to having a conversation with a tree."

"Understandable."

"And since _you're _used to talking with a tree, could you convince him that getting wood for my village is important?"

"I tried. He doesn't want to listen."

Yugi pursed his lips, picturing Yami chatting up a tree. Considering his personality, it wasn't a far-fetched idea. And judging by his garrulousness, it was no wonder that even a _tree_ would tune him out.

"Listen," Yugi said, deciding to finally address "Lief". "I know you don't like people cutting down trees. I don't like it too much, either. But it's either that or freeze to death. And that wouldn't be a good thing either, right?"

The tree shook angrily. "Lief says he wouldn't mind it. He says that's what he was heading to your village for—_hey,_" Yami said, suddenly angry with the tree. "We talked about this—no attacking the village."

"I'm sorry, he was _heading_ to the village?"

"Yeah, Lief can move."

Yugi closed his eyes for the longest time, summoning the strength to deal with Yami and his tree. "I know it sounds mean, and we look like we're just mindlessly hacking down trees," Yugi said slowly. "But we _need_ to stay warm. We're trying to figure out how to get through the Pass. Once we get through, then there won't be anybody left to cut trees down. We'll plant a bunch of pinecones before we leave, even."

The tree was very still for several moments.

Then it stood up.

Yugi fell back in horror, watching what had been a totally normal tree sprout branchlike arms and legs (or were they limb-like branches?) and double in size as it stood. Boughs moved and morphed to make a cavernous face, one that didn't look too happy. Yugi figured he had five minutes, if that.

Yami seemed to think so too, as he had leapt to Yugi's side and hunkered there, looking pleading yet ready to pounce.

Lief pointed at Yugi and grumbled something.

"He says he'll leave you and your village alone under one condition," Yami supplied, still on edge.

"What's that?" Yugi croaked. His voice seemed to have left him.

In response, Lief plucked a pine cone from his chest and held it out to Yugi.

"He says that if you do make it through the Pass, you should plant a pinecone on that side," Yami said, interpreting the grumbling.

Trembling, Yugi accepted the pinecone. "Sure," he stammered. "I can do that. I will do that. I promise."

Lief grumbled some more, but he seemed satisfied. He turned away and stomped back up to a thicket of trees halfway up the mountain.

"I think he likes you," Yami said, after Lief had gone a ways.

"Yeah, great," Yugi said, pocketing the pinecone. "It's good to know the tree doesn't want to kill me anymore."

"Well, he still might. I don't think he believes you'd make it over the Pass."

Yugi looked at Yami. "Do _you_?"

Yami shrugged. "Does it matter? If you left, I'd be down one friend."

Yugi considered that. "You consider me a friend?"

"What else would I consider you?"

"An acquaintance, at least," Yugi said, looking around. "I'm in trouble."

"Why?"

"I need to get wood, but now I'm afraid to touch any of the trees."

"Lief has that effect," Yami said, standing up. "Come on; I know where some deadfall is. Lief doesn't mind if you take _that._"


	14. Fishing

**Chapter 14—it's a Tony Stewart chapter! :D**

**Thanks to theelementalbanana over on DeviantArt for showing interest in the story. :)**

**And something that occurs to me: why can't you take a pickaxe to the frozen frog ponds in the game?**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Thankfully, Yugi didn't encounter Lief again. But whenever he left the village unattended, Yami was right there, excited to see his new friend again. Yugi was forcibly reminded of Chester, the old shaggy dog that Wilson had owned.

Yami seemed accepting of the fact that Yugi couldn't bound through the snow like he could, and seemed perfectly content following him around on whatever errand he was doing and peppering him with questions.

Case in point, when Yami noticed Yugi's lunch.

"What is that?" Yami asked, nosing around Yugi's pocket. Yugi wouldn't have minded so much, except for the fact that just being near Yami made the temperature drop several degrees.

"It's my lunch," Yugi said, edging away a bit. "It's something for me to eat in the middle of the day."

"When will that be?"

"Not for a few hours."

Yami made a noise in the back of his throat. "So what are we doing until then?"

"_I'm _going fishing."

"What's fishing?"

Yugi showed his fishing pole, basket, pick, and saw. "Um," he noised, wondering how to best explain it. "Maybe I ought to show you."

So he led Yami off to a frozen pond.

Yami gave the ice a cursory tap. "Is fishing another word for sliding?"

"No, watch," Yugi said, as he started a hole with the pickaxe, then sawed the rest. Soon he had a hole just big enough to fish in.

Yami leaned forward to look at the hole. "So, this is fishing?"

"It will be," Yugi said. "As soon as I can keep the hole clear."

Yami looked down to see that his presence had frozen the ice over again. "Oops."

Yugi set to reopening the hole, with Yami trying to help by clawing at the ice. For every scratch he did, more ice seemed to form, but eventually they ended up with a hole that was much too big for fishing. Yugi decided to leave it at that; Yami's presence would seal up most of the hole anyway.

"Now watch," Yugi said, loosing the line into the water. "I throw the line in here, and then wait for a fish to show up."

Yami sat on his haunches and waited for a whole minute. "Is something supposed to happen?"

"It will when a fish bites."

"And when will that be?"

"When the fish is good and ready, I guess."

Yami made an impatient noise and stood up on all fours. "Are you sure there's even fish in there?"

Yugi bit his lip. "I'm pretty sure."

"I'm going to look."

And before Yugi could stop him, Yami stuck his head in the water.

Instantly, the water froze, trapping his head beneath the ice.

Yami struggled frantically, trying to get free. Yugi panicked—how could he free his friend from this? He cast around for some way to free him, spotted the pickaxe. He snatched it up and started whaling away at the ice around Yami, dancing around as Yami skittered about trying to free himself.

The ice was cracking.

Suddenly Yami was free, falling back and clawing at the remaining ice around his head.

Yugi collected his stuff and scrambled to the shore, no longer certain of the safety of the ice. Yami wobbled over and collapsed, still scraping at scraps of ice clinging to his fur and hair.

"I don't think I like fishing," Yami said, heaving.

"You're not supposed to stick your head in the water," Yugi panted, shaking at the near-miss. "Are you okay?"

Yami shook his head, then picked a piece of ice from behind his ear. "I'm fine," he said, reorienting himself to face the ice. "Now what?"

"I'll just tell them I heard a bad crack in the ice," Yugi said. "They'll understand—it's better to have no fish than a bad case of hypothermia."

"Hypa-what?"

"Hypothermia. It's caused by extreme cold—like getting soaked in cold water then going around in freezing temperatures."

Yami was combing through his fur ruff now, checking for stray bits of ice. "I've never heard of it. Is it a human thing?"

"Yeah," Yugi said, tucking his knees up to his chest for added warmth. "You can normally diagnose it by blue lips, pale skin, blue-black extremities," he glanced to the side and winced when he realized that described Yami. "And uh, noticeable shivering."

Yami examined Yugi, a bit close for the latter's comfort. "You're kind of red."

"That's a good sign—it means blood flow."

Yami frowned. "It's probably different for uh, Frost Kings," Yugi said.

"Oh," Yami said, seemingly satisfied with that explanation. He flopped down in the snow, giving Yugi a moment's relief.

"Is it time for lunch yet?" Yami asked.

Yugi had practically forgotten. "Yeah, I guess. Might as well." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little bundle. Yami watched with interest as Yugi unwrapped it, revealing four biscuit sandwiches with bacon inside. Yugi guarded it for a moment of silence, then picked one up to give to Yami.

Yami's nose twitched at the miniature sandwich. Yugi worried for a beat that he'd try to eat it right out of his hand, but was relieved when Yami gingerly took it with two fingers.

Yugi ate one while Yami examined the sandwich. He watched as Yami nibbled at it—Yami's expression changed, and the biscuit-bacon sandwich vanished.

"That was _really_ good!" Yami said, examining the remaining two sandwiches. "Almost as good as soup. What is it?"

"They're called sandwiches," Yugi said, handing him another. "The bread is biscuit, and the innards are bacon. Savor this one, by the way—you get two and I get two."

"All right," Yami said, hunkering down and—very slowly—nibbling away at the sandwich. He was still finished before Yugi, and examined the bundle like it was supposed to provide more sandwiches.

"Sorry—all gone," Yugi said, shaking the hankie to show its emptiness. Some crumbs fell out, which Yami ate.

"Now what?" Yami asked.

Like Yugi would know. "I don't have any fish to show for my trip," he mused. "Is there any deadfall nearby?"

"Right this way."


	15. Jingle Bells

**Chapter 15, everybody, and time for more references! A story review to whoever guesses them all. :)**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Yugi was prepared the next time he went out, with twice as many sandwiches (which had involved quite a bit of begging) and a surprise for Yami.

He actually congratulated himself on his cleverness—this surprise would forever solve the problem of Yami sneaking up on him—

There was a sound, like snow falling off a branch, and then Yami collided with Yugi.

"Finally! You're back!" Yami exclaimed, rolling him. "Now we can _do_ stuff again!"

_It's hard to be mad at somebody who misses you when you're asleep_, Yugi mused, figuring it was better than cursing Yami's ancestry. When they finally rolled to a halt, Yugi floundered out of the snow as Yami bounded around him excitedly.

"So what are we doing today?" Yami asked. "Did you bring biscuits-and-bacon?"

"Yeah, I did," Yugi said, finally managing to stand upright. "And I got a surprise for you as well."

"Really? What is it?"

"First, you've got to sit still," Yugi chided. Yami did so, but Yugi could see him trembling with excitement. "Okay, here it is."

And he pulled out a ring of jingle bells, perfect for wearing around the neck.

Yami's ears pricked up at the sound they made. "What is it?" he asked.

"They're jingle-bells," Yugi explained. "Listen."

And he tapped out the song "Jingle Bells" on the bells.

Yugi knew he hit the jackpot—Yami begged him over and over to play the song again. He finally managed to teach Yami how, and after looping the bells around his neck, they set off, Yami now humming "Jingle Bells" as they went. It was better than the other song he knew—Frozen Hart—Yugi supposed, feeling the corners of his mouth turn down at the memory. Yami had heard some of the workers singing it, and had insisted that Yugi teach him. He had taken to loping around singing it with gusto, and Yugi didn't have the heart to tell him it was a warning against the Frost King.

"So what _are_ we doing today?" Yami asked him.

"You can help me find some wood that won't bring Lief down on me," Yugi suggested.

"Sure! That's this way!"

And Yami bounded off, leaving Yugi in the drifts.

"You know, not everyone can run through the snow like you can!" Yugi hollered after him, regretting not picking up those snowshoes in the ice cavern when he had the chance. He grumbled as he set after him.

"Stupid snow-brained hare-footed loon," Yugi muttered, struggling through the snow and trying to follow Yami's faint footprints. How could something bound and sink deep into the snow like that and then dash along the top like it was nothing? Maybe he _was_ magic. Maybe all those stories were true. And maybe he was an idiot to keep being friends with him when he really ought to be with—

"Yugi?"

Yugi started sharply and glanced around frantically, sure he had been alone, and in doing so, missed Willow the first time. She gave him that patented _you're-an-idiot_ look, one hand on her hip, the other holding a bundle of sticks.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "If Wilson catches you idling, he'll get you to help him dig rocks again."

Yugi shared her grimace—he had helped Wilson dig for rocks near one of the cliff faces before; it was tiring and cold at best.

Willow glanced around. "What _were_ you doing?"

"Um…." How best to describe this? He wasn't in the habit of lying to Willow, one of his few close friends in Frostmore—but how could he explain something like Yami to her? "I thought I…saw rabbit prints. I was trying to follow them."

It was close enough—Yami's hind-prints resembled rabbit prints, although much larger. They were light enough to not be identifiable, though.

Willow looked at the nearest one closely. "I've seen prints like those before," she said. "I don't think they lead to anything though. Don't tell Wilson," Willow said, looking up. "But I tried to follow them once—I nearly got lost doing that."

That made Yugi's heart thrill in his chest—for half-a-minute, he worried that the Frost King had been about to lead him to his doom. He quickly dismissed that worry—there was no sense in saving his life just to kill him later.

"Come on," Willow said, taking his hand and pulling him along. "We can go gather some more sticks so we look busy."

Yugi glanced around, nervous. He really hoped Yami wouldn't come bounding back. But he couldn't tell Willow no….

He followed her and hoped for the best.

* * *

><p>Yami found the deadfall and turned around expectantly.<p>

Yugi wasn't there.

"Idiot," Yami muttered. He had forgotten how Yugi couldn't move through the snow well. He bounded back through the forest, looking for Yugi.

He found him after a while, spotting him through the woods. _See? He got lost. Idiot Frost King, _he thought to himself, grateful that he finally had something to call himself. Well, time to set him straight.

He bounded over and took a flying leap, ready to surprise him.

"_Yugi!"_


	16. Willow and the Frost King

**Chapter 16, everybody! In which a certain firestarter encounters a creature of ice and snow….**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Yugi and Willow were busy collecting small sticks, testing them on the branches to see if they were green, and then snapping off those that were dead. Yugi hoped Lief wouldn't mind.

As they worked, they chatted about Wilson's new invention. It was inevitable—Willow spent most of her time with her ward; it made sense that he was forefront in her considerations.

"I wonder if Wilson's next invention will be something to melt the snow," Willow posed, after a while.

"I don't know," Yugi said, thinking of Yami and how he froze the water so quickly.

Yugi heard her sigh, heard the _click-click_ that was her playing with her lighter. He opened his mouth to add something more when he heard something else.

The jingling of jingle bells.

_Oh no,_ Yugi panicked, glancing around. At least the bells worked. But now he had to spot Yami and wave him off before—

"_Yugi!"_

_"Ooufh!"_

The first was Yami, doing one of those bounding leaps and landing on Yugi, who made the second noise as he was flattened into the snow. Again. He had to talk to Yami about pouncing on him like that. Yami was chattering away, like he hadn't lost Yugi at all when—

Oh no—Willow.

Yugi floundered out of the snow as Yami abruptly cut off. Yugi realized he must have spotted the young firestarter. Sure enough, there was Yami, looking surprised at the young girl brandishing her lighter at him.

"Leave him alone!" she commanded, sounding braver than she must feel—Yugi could see her shaking.

In response, Yami—obviously fascinated by the flame she was holding in her hand—advanced curiously on her. "Stay away!" Willow yelled, waving the flame back and forth. Yami followed the movement.

Yugi realized he'd have to defuse this quickly—if Willow injured Yami, Yami might react in a less than desirable way. Yugi wasn't sure what that would be, but he was sure it wouldn't be good.

He ran up and stood between the two. "Stop! _Stop!"_ he held up one hand at Yami, stopping him, while using his other hand to lower Willow's arm. "Yami, this is Willow: she's a friend. Willow, this is Yami."

Willow stared at him for the longest time, occasionally glancing back and forth between him and Yami.

Finally, she clicked her lighter shut.

"_You…_are in _so_ much trouble," she said, running back to the village.

"Da-da-da! We're dead," Yugi announced, flinging his arms up in the air.

He heard jingling. "And where are you—" Yugi began, turning around.

Yami was gone. "Going," he finished lamely. He glanced down to see if he could guess where Yami was going.

Towards Willow, evidently.

"Oh boy," Yugi noised, running after them.

* * *

><p>The girl Willow was angrily stomping through the snow, and making good time, too. That was impressive. But something about the way she moved seemed upset to Yami. He couldn't help but feel responsible.<p>

_Well, I've got to make it better,_ Yami thought. _If I messed up something, I've got to make it right._

So, he made the leap and landed right in front of her.

"Hi," he said, making sure his head was low like how the wolves did when trying to indicate submissiveness.

She had a look on her face that reminded him of Yugi when they first met. He wondered if it was a thing.

"Willow!"

Yugi tumbled the rest of the way down the snowdrift and scrambled to his feet. "Yami! Leave her alone!"

Yami felt his ears prick up at this. Why would he ask that? She had said the same thing—maybe it was a game?

"_Yami?_" Willow asked, turned towards Yugi.

"No, _he's_ Yugi, _I'm_ Yami," Yami corrected.

Her expression was comical as she glanced back at him. "The thing talks," she said quietly.

"I'm not a thing," Yami said, this time sitting up and puffing up a bit. "I'm a _Frost King_," he corrected, glad of the designation. If she had called him that before, he would have agreed with her.

Willow looked back at Yugi with that look on her face again. _"The Frost King?"_ she squawked.

Yugi fidgeted. "Remember that time I survived that blizzard?"

"Ushio's right—you _are_ a wraith!"

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"What's a wraith?" Yami asked.

"An evil monster that does your bidding," Willow explained.

"Really?" Then, to Yugi: "Sit!"

"No," Yugi replied bluntly.

"Oh."

"I'm not convinced," Willow said.

"And how am I supposed to convince you?" Yugi asked, hands up. "I can't tell you how many times I've spent in front of the fire—"

"_He's_ not afraid of fire!"

"And short of you burning me, I can't think of anything else—_don't even think about it!"_

"But things are so much prettier when they burn," Willow said, holding a flame in her hand again. Yami leaned closer to see. "Back off, fuzz-face."

"How are you doing that?" Yami asked, impressed with the fact that she was actually _holding _fire.

Willow looked to Yugi, who nodded. She turned back to Yami and held something small and metallic up.

"It's a lighter, see," she said, then pressed a button. "I press this, and flames come out."

Yami flicked his ears forward, fascinated. This might just beat out snowshoes as the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

Willow was looking at Yugi again. "He's not going to hurt me, is he," she said.

"No," Yami responded. "But I don't think Yugi's the sort to hurt anybody."

They stared at him for a moment. "No, he's cool," Yugi said to her finally.

"I know _that_," Willow said, smiling.

"Hey, you look nice when you smile," Yami observed. Willow's face turned red—what was up with _that?_

"So now what?" she asked suddenly, looking from Yami to Yugi then back to Yami.

Yami gave it some thought before hitting on an idea.

"Do you want to build a snowman?"


	17. Informing Wilson

**Chapter 17, everybody! :D**

**To be honest, I had wanted to add a bit more between this chapter and the last chapter, as I felt it was a bit abrupt when writing it. Coming back to it, I think it's fine, but I would like to know if anyone else feels that way.**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

"We've got to tell someone."

It had been a week since Willow had met Yami, and the Frost King had flourished with the addition of the firestarter's attention. At the very least, it gave Yugi a break from answering all of Yami's questions.

But now this statement from Willow threw Yugi for a loop. "What?"

"We ought to tell someone about Yami."

Yugi recalled what Pegasus's wife, Cecelia, had said once: _A secret is best kept when only one person knows it._ "Well, why?" he asked her, stalling.

Willow shrugged, picking a few more berries. "It seems like an important thing. We should at _least_ tell Wilson."

Ah, but of course—as Willow's ward, she figured Wilson would _have_ to know. "I'm…not sure Wilson is ready for him."

"What's a Wilson?"

Yugi glanced up sharply to see Yami peering over the berry bush. "I've told you: he's a gentleman scientist."

"And my ward," Willow added. Then, sensing that the subject needed to be changed, "Let's build another snowman."

Yami agreed to that eagerly enough, apparently glad to have someone willing enough to play in the snow with him. Yugi watched for a few minutes, glad of the distraction—

_"Willow!"_

It was faint, but Yugi recognized the trumpety voice of Wilson. "I'll handle it," Yugi said, waving at Willow and Yami, the latter of which had perked up at the voice. "You guys just keep doing your thing."

With that, Yugi ran to find Wilson.

It didn't take too long—the scientist was tall enough to be spotted from a distance, and he was wearing his top hat today, making him more conspicuous. Yugi couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

"They're hunting today," Wilson replied testily. "So I wanted to make sure I was easy to spot. Have you seen Willow, by the way? I don't want her out here with those trigger-happy goons out and about."

"Yeah, let me go get her," Yugi said, already turning to go. If they were hunting in the woods today, then he'd better warn Yami to stay away as well.

"I'll go with you," Wilson said, already moving to follow him. "_You_ shouldn't be out here either."

"_NO!"_ Yugi hollered, then composed himself. "No. See, we were making a…a snowman, cause Willow wanted to surprise you, and if you walk up on it before it's finished, she'll be upset."

Wilson made an understanding noise in the back of his throat, but crossed his arms. "You two shouldn't be making snowmen—you know the whole 'minions of the Frost King' thing surrounding them. If it was a prank to startle Ushio, it was poorly formed."

Yugi had almost forgotten about that—apparently, the Frost King could turn snowmen into moveable minions. But then again, considering Yami's reaction to the idea of turning someone into a wraith, he doubted it to be true. But still….

"Okay, okay," Yugi said, wincing a bit at the wind picking up. "Just let me get her myself, okay?"

There was something about the way Wilson raised his eyebrow that made Yugi uncomfortable, but he ran off before Wilson could say anything more.

It didn't take too long for Yugi to come across Yami and Willow again. "We've got to go," he said without preamble. "_You_ especially have to go," he said pointedly to Yami. "They're hunting today, and you don't want to get shot."

Yami seemed disappointed, which switched to dismay when Yugi turned to the snowman. "And we've got to knock this down."

Willow mirrored Yami's disappointment. "What? Why?"

"Remember the snowman thing?" Yugi said frantically. "If Ushio came across this—"

Yami stood next to the snowman defensively. "We've got to at least _finish_ it first."

Yugi glanced at the snowman. "Okay, but hurry it up! I don't think Wilson's going to wait very long—"

"He needs a hat," Willow declared. "Yugi, put your hat on it."

"Yugi doesn't have a hat," Yami interjected.

"Yes he does—"

A particularly strong gust of wind blew, and something dark tumbled by.

"There!" Yami said, snatching up the object and putting it on the snowman. "That works!"

It was Wilson's top hat.

"Yami! Hide! Now!" Yugi and Willow both hollered, flapping their arms to shoo him away. He obliged, but something about his attitude told Yugi he thought it was a game.

Yugi, meanwhile, was busy trying to disguise any evidence of Yami being there. Willow hurried to aid him, but both froze when some crunching—followed by Wilson's distinct science-y cursing—came to them. They quickly assumed innocent postures, and not a moment too soon—there was Wilson now.

His expression told Yugi that their normal innocent expression of big wide grin wasn't fooling him anymore. "What are you two doing?" he asked.

"We built a snowman for you," Yugi said through a gritted smile, hoping Willow would catch the hint. She did, thankfully, gesturing to the snowman in question.

"I call it 'Gentleman Scientist in White,'" she said proudly.

"Well, at least you caught my hat before it blew too far away," Wilson said, re-appropriating the article in question. Once it was safely back on his head, he launched into a lecture-tirade on how silly they were being, how dangerous it was out there, how ridiculous it was for them to even _dare_ make a snowman where Ushio would spot it—

Yugi and Willow both had experience with these tirades, and knew to simply remain quiet and nod, apologize at appropriate times, and otherwise simply tune Wilson out. Yugi was just glad Yami—

He cursed himself for jinxing it. The smile on his face was _very_ forced now.

Because there was Yami right behind Wilson, looking him up and down and watching him gesture in his rant.

"Uh, Wilson," Willow said quietly. Wilson ignored her, but Yami's ears perked up and he looked at Wilson in a new light.

_Please please please go away before he sees you,_ Yugi mentally pleaded. What he wouldn't give for a mental link between himself and Yami right about now….

"Oh, so _that's _a Wilson," Yami said finally, seeming pleased with the deduction.

It was all Yugi could do to keep from face-palming right there.

Wilson, meanwhile, had given the barest inkling he had noticed Yami, so busy was he with his tirade. He turned to Yami long enough to say "_Do you mind?"_ then turned back to them. "And another thing—"

And then the expression on Wilson's face shifted, indicating he had realized what he had just seen. He froze completely. His expression was comical in its exaggerated horror.

Of course, Wilson didn't realize that Yami was friendly….

"I want you two to run," Wilson muttered, not moving. "Don't turn around, no matter what you hear, and tell my science machine that I love it dearly."

"Uh, Wilson—" Yugi began.

Too late—Wilson had appropriated one of his tools and was swinging around quickly with a wild war yell, probably in hopes of startling or distracting Yami.

He succeeded in doing both, as Yami backed up so quickly that he fell head over heels. He quickly rolled back into a crouching position, however, expression on his face saying that he approved of this new game.

Yugi and Willow, meanwhile, were trying to distract the two before the "game" escalated into a full-on fight. "_Wilson! Wilson! Stop!"_ Willow begged, wrapping her arms around his waist and trying to pull him back. Yugi, meanwhile, had put himself bodily in front of Yami, distracting him from Wilson—or at least, trying to. Yami kept trying to look over him at Wilson, and considering he had several feet of clearance on four legs, he was succeeding.

And then Wilson put two and two together and froze again, this time with a look of consternated understanding on his face.

"You two," he hissed finally. "Are in _so_ much trouble."

Yugi grimaced. "That's what _she_ said," he tried, pointing at Willow.


	18. Wilson's Deal

**Chapter 18, and we see Wilson's reaction to the Frost King. "Hie thee hence" is Ye Olde English for "Hurry away, you"—or, rather, "Get lost!"**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Five minutes later saw Yugi and Willow once again the target of one of Wilson's tirades, this time on an entirely different subject.

The main difference this time, though, was Yami sitting there and watching Wilson pace back and forth, obviously fascinated by the gentleman scientist.

"And another thing," Wilson continued, in full swing. "_How_ could you not _tell_ anyone?"

"Because Ushio tried to shoot me on suspicion?" Yugi tried.

"_Ohhh,_ certainly that _lug_ would—what about me? I could have run plenty of tests to make sure nothing happened without overreacting—"

"You're overreacting now," Willow observed.

"_You_ are _grounded_, young lady!" Wilson told her. "For keeping…_this_ from me—"

"_I_ wanted to tell you—"

"She did," Yugi put in.

Yami, meanwhile, was beginning to look concerned at the conversation. Yugi shook his head minutely at the Frost King, but the action wasn't lost on Wilson.

"And _you!"_ he said, rounding on Yami. "I don't know where you came from, but you'd better hie thee hence _back_ there! And don't ever let me catch you bothering these two again!"

Yugi saw a faint glimmer of hope and seized upon it. "But Wilson!" he interjected, continuing before Wilson could shoot him down. "Think of the scientific possibilities!"

He had said the magic word. The notion of potential scientific possibilities froze Wilson mid-rant.

Willow saw what he was doing and jumped on it. "Yeah! Not everyone can say that they scientifically examined a Frost King! Right now you're the only scientist who has that designation!"

_Good one,_ Yugi mouthed to her. She beamed in return.

Wilson, meanwhile, was staring at Yami, one hand to his mouth and one on his hip, clearly seeing him in a new light. Yami tilted his head.

"All right, all right," Wilson sighed finally. "You two are still in a lot of trouble. And if anyone finds out about this—"

"We won't tell a soul," Yugi solemnly swore. Willow drew an X on her chest and held up her hand.

"About?" Yami asked, confused.

"Fine, fine," Wilson said, then gained a wicked grin. "But you two are going to be my willing assistants for the next _three weeks_."

_"Three weeks?"_ Yugi and Willow moaned in unison.

"Or…."

"Fine," they groused.

Yami blinked, not entirely sure what was going on.

* * *

><p>That night, while everyone was asleep, saw Wilson busily working. He was taking notes of the encounter, experiments he wanted to try….<p>

And all the while, trying to shake the notion that the Frost King was very, _very_ familiar.

He glanced over to where Yugi and Willow were sleeping, huddled together with Yugi's mother and grandfather. Funny—earlier, with the way they had been acting, he had almost worried that those two had begun to be romantically invested in each other.

In a way, that would have been much simpler for Wilson.

He sighed, rubbed his temples, then rubbed his hands together, for both warmth and worry. If he could scientifically break down how the Frost King worked, then he could put an end to this insufferable cold!

But again, there was that niggling doubt, the one that said he knew the Frost King from somewhere.


	19. What's In A Name?

**Time for Chapter 19, everybody! In which Wilson finds his wit's end….**

**Yuko13, thanks for the review! I'm glad you're liking this so far. ^^ Mmm, he _does_ bear a passing resemblance to Yugi around the head and face, but he also has a bit of a wolf face too. Hmm, related? I get the feeling that if that were the case, Yami would be thrilled while Yugi would be horrified. :D**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

Wilson's idea of Yugi and Willow being willing assistants apparently included mining for more rocks. He knew they hated the job.

Which was why, Yugi supposed, he was having them do it.

"I thought you already had enough rocks for your boiler!" Willow complained.

"That doesn't mean I don't have other experiments I want to perform that require them," Wilson said superiorly. "And didn't I say you two were to be my _willing _assistants? No whining."

Yugi felt that it was going to be a long three weeks.

Wilson, meanwhile, seemed disappointed that Yami hadn't showed up. He was wearing a backpack that Yugi was sure was stuffed to the gills with scientific goodies, all ready for poking and prodding—

Wilson vanished.

Yugi blinked, then realized that he hadn't done so without help. Yami had pounced on the hapless scientist, and after expressing his glee at yet _another_ new friend, had bounded over to Yugi and Willow. "What are you doing?" Yami asked.

"Slave labor," Willow groused.

"We're mining rocks," Yugi told him. "What happened to your jingle bells?"

"I was with the wolves last night, and they prefer it if I don't make a whole lot of noise," Yami explained.

Wilson, meanwhile, had managed to flounder his way out of the snow. Yami went back over and examined him with interest.

"_You_," Wilson said, after recovering. "Need to learn that that is _not_ the proper way to greet people."

"It isn't?"

"No." Wilson stood up and dusted himself off. "Now if you don't mind—"

Yami was back watching them mine rocks. "Yami, we're going to be busy for a bit," Yugi said, noting Wilson's expression. "Why don't you play with Wilson for a while? He's got a lot of new games for you to try."

"Really?" Yami asked, suddenly interested in the scientist once again. Wilson managed to dodge the excited leap this time around.

"Yes," Wilson said slowly, fortunately catching on. He unshouldered his backpack. "And they do _not_ involve jumping on hapless scientists. Now if you'll wait a minute—"

* * *

><p>Several hours later, Yugi and Willow had hollowed out a small cave in the cliff face. Wilson had tried sending them off to the village to begin the process of transporting the rocks, but had met with failure until Yugi had told Yami they'd be right back, stay here and play with Wilson.<p>

Play with Wilson indeed.

In the past several hours, Wilson had come to the conclusion that he was dealing with someone who had the mentality of a child. If the Frost King _did_ cause this bitter cold, it was evident he either wasn't aware of it or had no control over it.

"Enlighten me," Wilson said finally. "What can I do to make this process easier?"

Yami tilted his head, then ducked down, obviously hoping for a "game" that was actually _fun_. He reminded Wilson very much of his old dog Chester—

Ah, idea.

"Sit," Wilson commanded, pointing at him. Yami went cross-eyed trying to look at the end of Wilson's finger, but complied. "Good. Now back to brass tacks—"

"Tacks?" Yami asked, confused. "What are those?"

Wilson tried very hard not to sigh. Yami's curiosity was enough to make him an honorary scientist right then and there, but it was beginning to wear Wilson thin. "They're small metal devices that hold paper to walls. Now—"

"What's paper?"

Wilson showed him one of his pages of notes. Yami looked at them. "What's all that dirt on them?"

"It's not dirt, it's writing," Wilson replied testily. "N—"

"What's writing?"

Wilson closed his eyes slowly, trying to keep his composure. How to explain writing to someone who didn't even have the faintest inkling on how to document language?

"So how's it going?"

Wilson glanced up to see Yugi and Willow had returned for another basket of rocks. Willow seemed very triumphant. Ugh.

"Are we going to be done soon?" Yami asked, obviously not happy with sitting still. "Did you bring lunch?"

Yugi glanced at Wilson and raised an eyebrow significantly. At that moment, Wilson dearly wished he were able to translate the myriad ways Yugi and Willow could communicate silently. "Maybe—we have to go back and get lunch, but if you haven't been playing nice with Wilson…."

Yami looked aghast at the implication, and then even more so when the idea that he wasn't getting lunch if Wilson didn't look happy. Yami looked distinctly _un_happy when they left and he turned back to Wilson.

Wilson brainstormed for a new plan. He distinctly did _not_ want an unhappy Frost King on his hands—he didn't like the idea of becoming a Wilson-cicle. But how to get—

Idea.

He sighed deeply, crossed over to one of the rock piles, and sat down with his head in his hands, employing every single shred of self-control not to jump up yelping immediately. Good gravy, those rocks were _cold_.

Sure enough, the temperature dropped a few degrees, indicating that Yami had come over to examine him. Probably worried about no lunch. Wilson rubbed his face and folded his hands to look at Yami. Yes indeed—the worry was plain on his face. He was again reminded of Chester, may that old dog rest in peace.

"What am I going to do with you?" Wilson asked, mildly rhetorical.

Yami tilted his head and bobbed it, as though thinking on the question. "Come up with better games?" he suggested finally.

Wilson sighed heavily again. Yami fidgeted a bit, then laid down, assuming what Wilson could only interpret as a submissive position.

"So what do _you_ want to do?" Yami asked.

Wilson blinked, realized that it wasn't worry about no food—it was worry about somehow upsetting Wilson. Odd. Beyond odd. "I want to ask you a few questions," Wilson explained. "But that's very difficult to do when you won't sit still and _listen_."

Yami sunk lower in the snow. Wilson sighed and stood up.

"Well, there are other things to do," he announced, heading for his backpack again.

"Like what?" Yami asked, perking up slightly.

"I could do some measurements—of course, there's the risk that I could freeze to death from that close proximity—"

Yami's expression was a mixture of confusion at the words used and horror at the idea of Wilson freezing. "What were your questions? I'll answer them, I promise."

Bingo. "All right then," Wilson announced, turning to him and readying his notebook and pen. "Your name—how did you get it?"

"_Huh?"_

"Your name is Yami, correct?"

"Yes."

"Did someone give you the name?"

"No."

"Did you hear it somewhere?"

"No."

"So why do you call yourself Yami?"

"Because it's my name."

Wilson sighed again, then quickly ceased the noise when he noticed it upset Yami. "No, no—maybe I can explain it better. What's _my_ name?"

"Wilson."

"And do you know why I'm called that?"

"Because it's your name?"

"Because I was given that name when I was born. Do you know what Willow's middle name is?"

"Middle name?"

"The name between her first and last name."

Wilson could see he had lost Yami completely. "Not everyone has one name," Wilson explained slowly. "Some people have two names: their given name and their family name—my given name is Wilson, but my family name is Higgsbury. And some people have names between those two, called middle names. Mine is Percival—_don't laugh_," he commanded, when he noticed Yami smirk. "And Willow's is Ember. Now back to my question: do you know why Willow's middle name is Ember?"

"I don't even know why your middle name is _Percival._"

"Hurr hurr. I was given that name at birth. Willow, however, wasn't given a middle name at birth—she wanted one, so she picked Ember, which only a handful of people are aware of."

"How do you fit a person in your hand?"

"It's a figure of speech."

"What are those?"

"Things people say." Wilson paused, trying to think of a better way to explain it.

"Do I need a middle name?"

"Probably not—like I said, not everyone has multiple names. Now back to the original question: was Yami a name you were given, or one you took?"

Yami thought about it, obviously still confused about the whole affair. "Neither," he said finally. "I've just always had it."

Wilson slapped his hand to his face. He wasn't getting anywhere.

"So how's it going?"

"I have a headache," Wilson announced, turning to see Yugi with a pot of what he could only hope was stew. "I see _your_ endeavors were fruitful."

"Mom was cooking," Yugi explained, then turned so the pot wasn't near Yami, who had approached hopefully. "Oh no, this isn't for you." Yami jerked back, confused. "Have you been nice to Wilson?"

Yami looked beseechingly at Wilson. It took him a moment to realize that Yami wouldn't answer, because _he_ didn't know if Wilson were happy with the whole thing or not.

"Yes," Wilson supplied finally. "He's been perfectly obliging."

Yami looked confused at the statement, but Yugi nodded and looked over his shoulder. Willow came forward with a second pot, which she set in front of Yami. "_This _is for you," Willow told him, taking the lid off and revealing that it was indeed stew.

Yami looked fit to burst from happiness.

Wilson was glad that at least one of them was.


	20. The Coming Storm

**Chapter 20, ladies and gents! Sorry it's posted so late in the day—FanFiction was having a 503 server error and I couldn't access my doc manager. :P Hopefully this being extra-long makes up for it.**

**Yuko13, thanks for the review! Heheheh….True, Wilson doesn't seem to have any patience at all….Although, it's been my experience that the more educated a person is, the less patience they tend to have—so Wilson will be at the end of his rope for a long long time. :D**

**And now for a minor announcement: starting next week, the update schedule for _The Frost King_ will switch to Tuesdays and Saturdays. This is partially due to my other current story, _Chaos Avatar Desertion_, being upped to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule, and partially due to me feeling that a Saturday-Monday update schedule was too close. Hopefully that's all right with everyone.**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

"So how _did_ it go?"

Wilson had been quiet on the way back home, but that was nothing new to Yugi or Willow—the scientist was often lost in thought, and would sometimes go days without speaking.

"It…went," Wilson said finally. "His level of maturity is negligible at best."

"I noticed," Yugi said.

"So he's a baby Frost King?" Willow asked. "Does that mean there's adult Frost Kings somewhere? Frost _Queens?_"

Yugi blinked. "No…Yami said he was the only one."

"He did?"

"Well, he might as well have—he doesn't know if there are any others like him."

"And how on earth did you glean _that_ bit of information?" Wilson asked. Yugi noted he sounded a bit testy and divined the reason.

"When you're talking to him next time, try this," Yugi instructed. "Tell him you'll answer one of _his_ questions if he'll answer one of yours. Just be careful—he takes the questions literally."

"How so?"

"I asked him once if could ask a question and he took that as _the_ question I asked."

"Hmm," Wilson noised.

They were within earshot of others now, so conversation on Yami had to halt. "So uh, I guess we've got to help you with the boiler now, huh?" Yugi asked, hoping that wasn't the case. Willow kicked him for reminding Wilson.

"No, no, you two go get some rest," Wilson said, taking the steps down once they were in. "I've got big plans for you tomorrow."

Willow glared at Yugi. "Now how am I supposed to enjoy having the evening off if I know what's coming?" Willow asked.

Yugi did a quick mental calculation. "By knowing we only have twenty more days of this?"

"I'll be dead by then."

Yugi thought, then smirked. "You know, we _could_ always teach Yami how to play a snowball fight when Wilson's not looking."

Willow's expression was devious. "I _love_ it."

"See? Now we have something to look forward to," Yugi announced, heading into the great hall. Mmm, more stew—and the joys of explaining the difference to Yami.

* * *

><p>Wilson, meanwhile, was in his basement lair, sitting in front of the boiler and staring at it. What to do about this Frost King….Willow had raised a good point about if there were more….<p>

The quiet niggling doubt was back.

Wilson sighed and started tinkering. Yugi seemed to know a lot about how Yami ticked, and Yami seemed perfectly willing to listen to _him_….

Maybe he could take advantage of that.

* * *

><p>"Yay, more rock moving."<p>

This declaration of sarcastic joy came from Willow. Yugi couldn't blame her—the work was back-breaking.

"Are we being punished?" Yugi asked.

"Yes," Wilson replied promptly, supervising.

"I thought so," Yugi agreed. "Normally assisting with _science_ is more fun."

"You have to take the tedious with the exciting. On that same subject, where _is_ Yami?"

"Normally he shows up when no one else is around," Yugi said, indicating some people off in the distance. They could barely see them, but still. "I told him to never come around when someone else is about."

"Wise advice," Wilson conceded. "But not very conductive to science. Come—there's other tedious labor that science requires of you."

* * *

><p>There had been no complaints when Wilson recommended other labor. They had brought the last load of rocks to Frostmore, picked up a large lunch (a good chunk of which was for Yami), and went off in search of the Frost King.<p>

At least, Wilson was. Yugi was busy locked in silent argument with Willow. He wanted to know what they were doing beyond aimlessly searching for Yami, and Willow didn't want him to aggravate the situation further. His aching muscles agreed with her.

"This looks like a good place," Wilson said finally, stopping near a cluster of trees. "And it's nicely out of the way. You two," he continued, turning to them. "Are going to be gathering wood. I have some axes here—"

"_NO!"_ Yugi hollered, realizing he recognized the cluster of trees. They were _the_ cluster of trees—the one Lief had gone to.

"Are you all right?" Willow asked, sounding slightly amused.

"Don't yell like that," Wilson told him, waving his hands slightly. "You'll bring an avalanche down on us."

"Sorry," Yugi muttered. "But uh, I am _not_ touching those trees."

"And why not?" His hands were on his hips now.

Yugi made a few waffling motions with his hands, then finally flopped them down to his sides. "I can't say. There's no sane way _to_ say it."

"Try me."

Yugi hemmed and hawed, but finally relented under Wilson's level stare. "Because the tree will kill me if I do."

"Only if it falls on you."

"Uh…actually, this one stands up."

Willow nodded. "You're right. It's crazy."

"Trees do not stand up—" Wilson started.

"This one does!" Yugi wailed.

"Now, now—remember what I said?" Wilson asked, handing him a hanky. "Blow in this." Yugi did so. "Now for the last time, trees do _not_ stand—"

Wilson vanished abruptly.

"Hi Yami," Willow chimed. The Frost King in question bounded around Wilson happily before loping over to them.

"So what are we doing today?" he asked them.

"Trying to get killed," Yugi told him. "I tried telling them about Lief, but they wouldn't listen."

_"Lief?"_ Willow asked.

"Well, Lief _does_ look like a crotchety, jerky, downright grumpy old tree," Yami conceded, scratching behind an ear. "But once you get to know him, you'll realize that he _is_ a crotchety, jerky, downright grumpy old tree."

A tree in the clump shook violently in response. "You are and you know it!" Yami yelled at the tree.

"Is he talking to a tree?" Willow asked.

"And he's talked the tree to death too," Yugi told her. "I think Lief—the tree—probably stood up the first time just to get away from him."

More rustling. "He says yes he did—_hey!"_ Yami objected, when he realized what they meant.

Wilson had managed to extricate himself from the snow pile Yami had face-planted him into. "Yami, do you know where any deadfall is that Lief wouldn't mind parting with?" Yugi asked.

"Sure!" Yami chimed. "This way!"

* * *

><p>It had been a full day, but Wilson seemed overly frustrated, even by his standards.<p>

Yugi noted that he had followed his advice on how to talk to Yami, but Yami's lack of knowledge seemed to be getting in the way of everything. Yugi didn't think Wilson had gotten anything of value from their conversation.

Yami kept trying to start a conversation with the scientist, but without success. "Leave him alone, Yami," Yugi told him. "Wilson gets like this—he's busy calculating deep scientific discoveries and formulas, and until he's done, he won't say three words to anyone."

"What's his record?" Willow asked, thinking. "A month?"

"I think a month."

Yami was looking at Wilson in a new light. "You mean he doesn't say anything for a whole _month?"_

"He can still hear you," Wilson commented testily.

"He might not break his old record," Willow observed.

"I don't think you have enough to do."

"I can't imagine not talking for a month," Yami stated.

"I bet," Yugi said.

"It'd be just too quiet. The only good time for that is a snowstorm. We'll be having one tonight."

They looked at him. "What, did you decide that just now?" Willow asked.

"No."

"What then?" Wilson asked.

"I can feel it," Yami said, looking up. "It's like…a feeling…and it gets stronger when the storm's bigger."

"Well that's maddeningly unhelpful," Wilson muttered. "But scientifically interesting."

"How big is the storm going to be, Yami?" Yugi asked.

They had reached a clearing now. Yami sat down and looked up.

He was silent for a full minute before speaking again.

"It's going to be big. Really big. Most of the animals are going to go into hibernation for this one."

"How long is it going to be?" Wilson asked, notebook out and scribbling.

Another minute of silence. "A few…you said something about clusters of days?"

"Weeks are seven days long," Willow supplied.

"Then…two weeks."

They were silent again, staring at Yami, who was still looking up at the sky, content with the weather. "Two _weeks?"_

"It'll be spectacular," Yami continued. "Lots of snow for playing in—a few feet at least. Definitely some of the fluffy stuff that's good for rolling around in."

Wilson was staring at him, hands looking nerveless.

He interrupted the reverie finally by snapping his notebook shut.

"Right," Wilson announced. "We need to get ready."


	21. The Diagnosis

**And now for Chapter 21, in which things happen and Wilson has to be the bearer of bad news….And it's the first day of the new schedule! What do you all think?**

**Yuko13, thanks for the review! Aha, yes, a little advance warning would have been better, but my Mom senses storms a few hours to a whole day before they happen, so I'm guessing it's not an exact science. It went on vacation, I'm going to say….**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

The next three days were spent with Wilson, Joey and Tristan in the cramped basement, working on the boiler.

Yugi and Willow were acting mostly as gofers, making sure that everyone had everything they needed for scientific advancement. After three days, Yugi could finally see something in the metallic mess the three had been working on.

It looked like it could work.

"Okay," Wilson said, blowing on his hands to warm them. "Now we put snow in the belly here, light a fire beneath it, and the steam should warm up the rest of the building."

"Or, y'know, we just cram everybody down here," Joey said, rubbing at his arms. "Tristan said something about that the other day."

"Oh sure, blame me," Tristan groused.

Yugi and Willow simply watched the older kids and waited patiently for Wilson to do what they all had been waiting for.

Wilson's hand hesitated on the lever.

"Just _do_ it," Willow commanded.

Wilson did so.

There was a mechanical whirring as the machine struggled to life. Yugi started to feel a little warmer.

"I think it might be working," Yugi announced.

"Not properly," Wilson said, examining something in the ceiling. "Tristan, I told you to work on this."

"Got it," Tristan said, fiddling with something where Wilson was looking. Yugi wished he had a better angle.

They waited a few more minutes, Joey feeding the fire beneath the boiler.

Yugi could hear the now-water bubbling.

It was a full hour later that Wilson finally said what they all had been hoping for.

"Gentlemen—and lady," he said, dipping his head towards Willow. "I believe we have achieved success."

* * *

><p>Yami sat outside his home, happily watching the storm roll in.<p>

Woo yes, it _was_ going to be a doozy. Just look at how those clouds roiled!

Yami bounced happily a bit at the thought and the wording. Hanging around _three_ new friends had certainly expanded his vocabulary. He would have to thank Cardinal-friend for introducing him to Yugi—

That took the wind out of Yami's sails. He had met Yugi due to the fact that he was dying in a snowstorm just like this one. No…one weaker than this one.

Yami suddenly felt something he wasn't accustomed to.

A bad feeling deep in the pit of his stomach.

* * *

><p>Over the next few days, Yugi did note a minor change in the temperature in the hall, although Wilson attributed this to the heavy blanket of snow coating it and refused to give his boiler much credit.<p>

"I don't get it," Yugi said to Willow as they sat in front of the fire, darning clothes. "He goes to all this trouble, and then when it's finally working, he doesn't think it works."

"It's a science thing," Willow replied sagely. "He's hedging his bets so he can look all smart once it works."

"Now Miss Willow, that is not the case," Wilson said, coming up with fresh clothes in need of repair. "I know _just_ how smart I am, and I don't _need_ anyone else to know."

_"Right_," Yugi and Willow chimed.

Wilson _harrumphed_ and deposited the clothes, crossing over to converse with Joey, who was sitting next to his sister.

Yugi felt his eyebrows knit at that. It was strange…Joey had been sticking close to his sister Serenity ever since she developed that cough….It wasn't much, but it had been niggling at her for over a week now. Maybe she was coming down with something. And if she was coming down with something…they all would. They were in an enclosed environment for the next two weeks, according to Yami. There was no getting away from the germs.

"Do you think Serenity's contagious?" Yugi asked Willow in an undertone.

"I'd be worried more if Joey was," Willow replied, not bothering to keep her voice down.

"I heard that!" Joey yelled.

Yugi rolled his eyes and went back to work. That hadn't answered his question. If Serenity was contagious, Ushio or one of the other guards might send her out in the cold. If they did that, then Joey would go with her. If Joey went, Tristan might go too—that made three gone.

Yugi glanced over; Wilson was over there, scientific tools in hand, talking with Serenity and taking her temperature and using a stethoscope (which was not pre-heated—Yugi knew that for a fact) to listen to her heartbeat.

He wondered if anything was wrong.

* * *

><p>"Well?"<p>

It was late, and most everyone else was asleep. Only a handful of adults were awake and conversing, and Wilson was sitting with them, plus Joey and Ushio—who had taken some time off of guard duty to attend.

Wilson knew the real reason for this circle—had known it the minute he had said something about bad news: they were there to potentially prevent Mr. Joseph "Joey" Wheeler from doing something incredibly stupid.

Wilson, however, didn't feel in any particular hurry to share this parcel of bad news. It made him sick to think about it, but he realized there was no choice. He took a deep breath and said it.

"It's your sister, Mr. Wheeler. She's…ah…."

"She's dying," Ushio said, all bluntness.

Joey spun around. "_What?"_

"It's obvious."

"And you're remarkably blunt," Yugi's mother, Hannah, noted.

"It's pneumonia," Wilson said, intercepting Joey before he could physically assault Ushio. "It…I'm pretty sure it's complications from being in this sort of weather so long—"

"_So?_" Joey seethed, turning his ire towards Wilson instead. He shoved Wilson away, sending him tumbling into Ushio. "You're the egghead! _Fix her!"_

Ushio righted Wilson. "I _can't_, Mr. Wheeler," Wilson said testily, straightening his shirt out. "We don't have that sort of technology anymore." A moment of confusion flicked across Joey's face. "We don't have much of anything left here anymore," Wilson sighed.

"But you're the resident genius! _Fix her!"_

"We didn't have anything like that in the Sunlit Kingdom," Hannah's grandfather, Solomon put in sagely.

"Of course you didn't," Wilson retorted. "The heat and the dryness would dry up any cough."

"So let's go!" Joey said, waving his arms. "We head for this place and be done with it!"

"Did your brain freeze recently?" Ushio asked. "We're snowed in. Even without this storm, no one's ever made it past the Pass. The Frost King got them all."

Wilson grimaced at that; he couldn't link Yami with that image anymore.

"So we get everyone together and rush the Pass! We've been wanting to get out of here for ages!"

Wilson glanced at Hannah and Solomon, who had glanced at each other. It wasn't lost on Ushio, but he was too preoccupied with Joey to comment. "So we all die?"

Joey looked winded. "So my sister dying is better than everyone dying?"

"I didn't say that."

"Oh sure! Trust me, I got what you said! And I'm not putting my sister on the chopping block fer you!"

And with that, Joey stomped off.

Wilson watched him go with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. There went three more denizens of Frostmore.

He turned—

And caught a glimpse of something.

There, snuggled with Willow, was Yugi. Wide awake, but feigning sleep, there was something very horrified in his expression when he locked eyes with Wilson.

Wilson sighed and walked off.


	22. The Promise

**Chapter 22, everybody! In which my computer steamed me by corrupting my file for _The Frost King_—but don't worry, I'm smarter than the computer: I have back-up copies. :) So the rise of the machines might have been delayed slightly….And has anyone else noticed that these chapters have been longer lately?...**

**Yuko13, thanks for the review! You've hit the nail on the head—things are going to happen. What things? Let's find out….**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi**

**Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment**

"What do we do about Joey?"

The very question Wilson had been dreading. Well, at least Yugi was nice enough to get it out of the way first thing, instead of letting it fester all day.

"We do nothing right now," Wilson said, when he realized that Yugi and Willow were still waiting for an answer. "If we think he's getting ready to make a break for it, we talk him down. If he just leaves, we go after him and bring him back. So we'll need kits ready for making the trip."

Willow was tugging at Yugi's sleeve. Yugi looked at her, looked down, then looked at Wilson.

"What if we got Yami to help?" Yugi asked.

One of these days, Wilson would have to figure out how those two held a conversation without speaking like they did. Granted, Yugi's suggestion _had_ occurred to Wilson, but he had resolved not to be the one to bring it up. "I'm not sure," he hedged. "Do you think he would, if you asked?"

Yugi was quiet. Thinking.

"Yes," he said finally. "I'm sure."

"Then should Mr. Wheeler decide to leave, we will enlist his help in assisting him."

There was something in Yugi's expression—confusion.

Willow was the first to realize it. "Wait a minute," she said. "This is his _sister—it's_ not _if_ he goes, it's _when_."

Wilson inclined his head.

"So we make sure we're ready when he _does_ make his decision."

* * *

><p>Yugi couldn't sleep that night.<p>

The idea of Serenity dying…sure, he wasn't that close to her, but he _was…kind_ of friends with her brother, and he had seen her once or twice….The idea of how subdued Joey would be….

…And then the idea of leaving.

Part of him thrilled at the chance to get away from there. To finally see the Sunlit Kingdom that his grandfather always talked about. To live in a place that wasn't forever locked in deadly cold.

But then what?

He realized he couldn't tell his mom or his grandfather. If he did, then they would have to go. If they did, then more would have to go, until the whole village would follow.

And then Yami. Their whole plan hinged on Yami agreeing to help them. And even if he did—Yugi was almost certain he would—it might be easier to convince one or two unarmed people, but a whole _village_….

Yugi tossed and turned next to Willow, his family once again locked in conference with the other "adults of import," as Wilson had termed them. Finally, he rolled over.

"Willow, are you asleep?"

"Yes," she replied promptly.

"I'm worried."

"I couldn't tell."

Yugi wished it was daylight. It was so much easier for him to telegraph what he was thinking to her through their weird way of communication. That, and it annoyed Wilson to no end to watch them converse and have absolutely no idea what they were saying. Yugi sometimes didn't wonder if perhaps that was the real reason they had developed that. Or maybe they had always conversed like that, and he was just now noticing it better.

"Did you fall asleep?" Willow asked. "Please tell me you fell asleep."

"No…it's…it's…I don't know," he finished lamely. He had realized that for Willow, her family _would_ be going with them—Wilson was really all she had. And Yugi was her best friend—everyone she cared about would be there.

"You two need to get some sleep."

Yugi was suddenly aware of something tall in front of them—Wilson. "Sorry," Yugi muttered.

"I _was_ asleep," Willow declared, although something in the timbre of her voice told him she was lying.

"I can't sleep—I'm worried," Yugi said.

Wilson shook his head, obviously exasperated with them. "Get some sleep," he commanded, in his best scientist voice. "I'm the adult here—I do all the worrying for all three of us. Got that?"

"Yeah," they muttered, huddling back into their blankets. Satisfied, Wilson carefully made his way through the dim lighting.

But Yugi couldn't help but worry.

* * *

><p>It was a few days later when it happened.<p>

Tristan sought Wilson out, wanting to talk to him alone. When Yugi and Willow insisted on staying, Tristan blurted it out.

"Joey's gone. He took his sister with him."

Yugi glanced at Willow, Willow glanced at Yugi, and then they both looked at Wilson, who bowed his head slightly in thought.

"Three days," he said finally. "He held out longer than I thought. Go get the kits, you two."

Tristan watched them run off in disbelief. "Wait a minute—you _knew?_"

"I _guessed_, Mr. Taylor, there _is_ a difference," Wilson corrected. "I have to go get a few things—you'd better pack in a hurry, too. We'll meet in five minutes."

Tristan dashed off, leaving Wilson to duck into his basement and gather all the necessary equipment he thought he ought to bring on such a journey. It would mean he would carry two bags, but so be it. Despite Yugi's insistence, he didn't think that the Frost King would be entirely worried about their well-being.

He reached the ground level and slowed to a stop.

There was one thing he had to do before he left. His conscience wouldn't let him leave otherwise.

He went into the hall and sought out Yugi's mother, Hannah Moutou, busy trying to make soup out of pretty much nothing. Hopefully the foragers would find something today.

But then, now there would be six less mouths to feed.

"Good morning, Hannah, having a good day?" he asked, trying very hard not to fidget.

"I'm fine, Wilson," Hannah said, sparing him a glance. "Why don't you go and make a device that makes food out of thin air?"

"I've tried—I haven't been able to get the conceptualization down."

She snorted in a burst of laughter and finally looked at him properly. "Are you all right?"

Wilson gave a strained sort of smile. "I'm fine, honestly—I haven't been getting enough sleep lately, but what else is new?"

"I could hit you with a frying pan—I bet that would help."

"I'd rather you didn't—I have a busy itinerary for the next few weeks."

"_Right_. Well, I won't keep you then."

And she waved him off.

He took three steps away before turning back to her.

"Hannah….You know I wouldn't let anything happen to your son, right?"

She gave him a strange look, but finally nodded. "I know. What, are you planning some sort of weird science experiment?"

"Something like that."

"Just make sure he's still in once piece when you're done."

Wilson took a deep breath.

"I promise."

And with that, he left the hall.


End file.
